The Peverell Legacy
by ReluctantSidekick
Summary: Harry accidentally missed his wedding and his fiancee came looking for him. Turns out he was in the nineteen-eighties. Big shout out to ClareR89 for being my sounding board
1. Chapter 1

**The Peverell Legacy**

 **A/N: I own nothing, especially not HP. Welcome to another fanfic, Italics are for thoughts and Bold is for spells. Here's chapter one, enjoy! Updates will be slow as ideas come to me.**

 **Chapter One: November 23** **rd** **, 1981**

A dark haired man looked at the painfully normal looking house before him. It appeared surreal, these row upon row of identical houses with identical flower gardens and identical mailboxes. He flicked his wand over his robes and transfigured them into more suitable clothes. Dark robes turned into a formal looking suit, dragonhide boots turned into soft patent leather shoes that shone in the light from the streetlamps.

Next was his moke skin bag. He tapped it with his wand, turning it into a plain looking leather attache case. _I probably look like I'm here to sell insurance, but this will serve the purpose. Vernon and Petunia pride themselves on normalcy and I'm far more likely to get what I want if I act like a perfectly normal muggle._ He thought as he made his way to the door at Number Four Privet Drive.

Petunia Dursley didn't want to open the door at first. When she heard the knock, her first thought was to ignore it. But then she changed her mind, _What if the neighbors hear the knocking?_ She frowned and went to the door. When she opened it, she found a handsome dark-haired man a few years younger than herself or her husband. "May I help you?" She asked him.

"I certainly hope so Ma'am. My name is Hadrian Peverell, but please call me Harry, I represent the family of one James Potter. Mr. Potter's cousin, Edward Potter of Little Walsingham, East Anglia. With the unfortunate death of his cousin and his wife, my client is now the sole relation to their son, Harry on the Potter side." The young man, Harry, he'd said, smiled then, "He is aware that you currently are looking after Harry. Through a bit of preliminary research, am I correct that you were recently blessed with a son of your own?"

Petunia nodded, "Yes...I didn't think Potter had any relatives if I'd known that I'd have sent the boy to them." Harry stifled a flinch, memories of being crammed into the cupboard racing back into his mind. "I completely understand that Mrs. Dursley, one can hardly expect you to be forced to care for a child that isn't your own merely because of a familial relation. I'm sure had it been the other way around, the Potters would have shipped your son off to live with another relative."

"And this Edward Potter wants to take the boy?" Petunia said, eagerness creeping into her voice. Harry smiled politely, "Yes ma'am. He is prepared to take full custody and responsibility of young Harry as of tonight." Harry reached into his attache case and drew out the papers that had been part of why he'd come in the evening and not first thing in the morning. "These papers, which are fully prepared and need only your signature, will allow Edward Potter to take Harry and in all legal matters, be considered his guardian."

As Harry passed the paperwork to Petunia along with a pen he watched as she didn't bother reading it, instead, she found the X's marked for her as Harry pointed them out and signed each one. It was finished, Harry Potter was no longer a resident of Number Four. "I am ready to collect Harry, to bring him home. If you'll direct me to his room, I'd appreciate it." Harry said, keeping the polite smile on his face, though he knew precisely where Harry Potter was residing at the moment.

Petunia rose, "I'll be back with the boy. Just go over the papers and make sure that everything is completed properly, Mr. Peverell." She left, going up the stairs as Harry pretended to look over the papers. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Petunia creep back down the stairs and open the cupboard underneath them. _Merlin's pants, she didn't even take me out of the basket._ He thought as he saw her come back out with a basket and then tiptoe back to the stairs. She climbed halfway up before turning and walking much louder, "Here we are Mr. Peverell. Now, if there's nothing else, my husband is due back from his club meeting soon and I'd like to have his dinner prepared."

Accepting basket that held his one-year-old self, Harry smiled. "Nothing at all Mrs. Dursley, have a wonderful day. Good evening." He said as he walked back out of Number Four and made his way down the darkened street.

"I think that went rather well, what do you think Harry?" Harry asked the sleeping baby, "Ah don't bother answering, I've got a nice bottle at home waiting on you" He reached into his case and pulled out his wand.

"I hope you weren't planning on apparating with that child." Came a familiar Scottish burr from behind him. Harry turned to find Minerva McGonagall standing before him, her wand held pointed at his chest. "Who are you and why have you kidnapped that baby?"

"Professor McGonagall, I can promise you that I haven't kidnapped anyone." Harry said, "I made certain to adopt Harry legally. I am his closest blood relative."

"And just who are you?" She demanded, "James had no family and Lily's only living family are in that house."

"My name is-" He sighed, "There is no way you are going to believe this but my name was Harry Potter," Harry said, lifting his hair and revealing the now very faint scar on his forehead.

"B-but that's impossible...no it's a glamour isn't it?" Minerva said quietly in disbelief, "How is this possible?"

"Would you believe that Ron was trying to repair the time turner you gave Hermione? He found it at the Ministry a few weeks ago, brought it to my house and managed to blow me back to the nineteen-eighties." Harry replied, "I wound up back at Grimmauld Place and trust me, that is not a place for a baby... anyway, I went to Gringotts and claimed my vault, bought myself a house out in Sussex and here we are."

"'Here we are'...Do you have any idea what you've done? The wards-" Minerva began but paused when Harry held up a hand.

"The wards were placed on a house where he would never be loved, never be treated like he was part of the family. Where they would treat him worse than the lowest house elf. I grew up in that house and I know exactly how they would treat him." Harry looked down at the sleeping Harry Potter, "I might have never raised a baby, least of all myself, but I do know I'll do a better job of it than they would."

"When Professor Dumbledore hears about this he-"

"He won't. Because I trust you, Professor. I trust you to keep our secret. Harry deserves a chance to live his life, to grow up loved." Harry interrupted quietly, "If he lives in this house, he ends up beaten nearly daily, he doesn't even learn his name until he's five years old." He looked back into the basket, "He grows up thinking that no one loves him, and he's right. In that house, no one loves Harry Potter."

She looked at Number Four and then back at them, "Where are you staying in Sussex?" She asked him, "I plan to keep a close eye on you, the both of you."

"Fifteen Watchbell Street, Rye." Harry said, "I found a home for sale near the park. Luckily my next-door neighbor was kind enough to help me find the furnishings I'd need."

"Very well then Mr. Peverell. We will be seeing each other again very soon. Do not make me regret this." Minerva said before vanishing with a crack leaving Harry to apparate away with Harry in tow.

The Next Morning

Andromeda Tonks watched as her six-year-old daughter raced around the backyard on her toy broomstick. _Thank the Morrigan for notice-me-not charms and repelling wards..._ She thought as the currently pink haired child cried out in excitement.

There was a knock on her door and she turned, "Nymphadora! Come back here, Mr. Peverell has come to introduce you to someone." Harry Peverell had been a pleasant surprise when he'd arrived on Watchbell street. A handsome, polite young man looking to buy the Morrison home beside her. When she'd introduced herself he'd smiled in a way that had made her feel as if they'd met before.

Her daughter had instantly fallen in love with the young man. After their first meeting a few weeks ago, she'd declared that she would marry him when she was older. Harry, _Harry, he said I could use the diminutive of his name..._ She reminded herself, _after all, Hadrian is a bit of a mouthful._

Harry Peverell stood at her door with his son in his arms."Hello Mrs. Tonks, sorry I'm a little late...James here had a bit of a lie in." He grinned down to the little boy in his arms, "That's right isn't it James? It's not that Daddy couldn't figure out the coffee maker..."

Andromeda laughed at that, "More of a juice man?" She asked him.

He shook his head, "More of an 'I don't normally have breakfast, but I had a fussy baby in a new environment and he kept me up all night' man." He shifted the sleeping James into his arms, "My aunt Noreen was very glad to keep him, but I'm still glad to have him home."

"I am sure you are," Andromeda said taking the sleeping baby from him, "I'll put him in Nymphadora's room. Why don't you sit down on the couch and we'll talk."

He nodded going to the couch, the six-year-old Tonks immediately moving beside him and sitting down. "Hi, Mr. Peverell!" Tonks said to him, "You brought your son today."

"I did, I was hoping you and James could be friends..." Harry said, "He's going to need a big sister, I was an only child."

"I can do that!" Tonks said excitedly. Harry smiled at the little pink-haired girl. The first time around Tonks had essentially adopted Harry as her little brother. She'd been determined to give Harry some semblance of normalcy throughout the insanity of his life. It had never been romantic love, the feelings he had felt regarding her, but he had loved her. Outside of the Weasley family, she and Sirius had been his only family. He knew she was good for him, so he knew she would be good for the little Harry.

Andromeda came back down, "The little one is awake now, Nymphadora, will you go upstairs with him so the adults can talk?" Tonks hopped down from the couch and raced upstairs. Once they were alone Andromeda sat down opposite to him, "He's a very calm baby. He awoke in my arms and merely smiled."

Harry nodded, "He's a good kid-" a sharp knock on the door interrupted him, "Were you expecting someone? I'm sorry if I interrupted other plans."

"I'm not, but give me a moment, perhaps it's a delivery for Ted," Andromeda said rising and going to the door. When she opened it, Harry was shocked. He had a few regrets when he'd been flung into the past, the biggest one stood at the door, still in her wedding dress, with he noticed in dawning horror, cold fury etched into her features.

"HARRY JAMES POTTER!" Padma Patil shouted, her wand out, "I should have known you'd want one more 'great adventure'!" She pushed past Andromeda into his face, slapping him roughly, "If Luna hadn't found a ritual that brought me to you I wouldn't be able to do this!" She smacked him again, her cursing switching from English to Tamil as a stream of profanities poured from her mouth.

Harry put his arms on her shoulders, "Padma listen to me, please, I didn't come here on purpose-"

She glared at him, but Andromeda interrupted her next tirade as she cast a silencing charm on the room, "What does she mean 'Harry James Potter'?" She asked Harry, "Harry Potter is a baby."

"Harry Potter is a jackass who vanished on our wedding day." Padma said glaring at Harry, "Luckily I'm friends with a very clever researcher." She flicked her eyes at Andromeda then back to Harry, "I should have known better than trust Harry and Ron to actually show up without anything stupid happening."

"Will you let me explain Padma?" Harry asked his fiance, "I swear that I didn't try to get blasted into the past."

"I think perhaps we need to all calm down, I'll make some tea and you can explain everything," Andromeda said, leaving the room and its two inhabitants.

"Alright, then how did you get here? Ron just said you vanished." Padma asked, "I told you when you left for Grimmauld Place, that you were to not get involved in anything that would keep you from the wedding today."

Andromeda returned with three teacups, sparing Harry a moment to gather his thoughts.

Harry began, taking a sip of his tea, "I've been here for three weeks."

"It's been two hours." Padma said, "two hours since Ron came running into the chapel shouting that you'd vanished." She took a sip, feeling a sense of peace envelop her, "You put a calming draught in this didn't you?" She asked Andromeda.

"I did," She nodded, "Calming draught, babbling beverage, and a drop of veritaserum. My daughter is in this house, and I needed to know I could trust you." This earned a smile from Harry. This was the Andromeda Tonks he knew, the woman who had raised his godson after the untimely deaths of her daughter and son-in-law. The woman who had lost her entire family and had faced the challenge of rebuilding her life. Andromeda had been one of the strongest people he'd ever met.

She looked over at Harry, "So, would you like to start over, now that I know you aren't 'Harry Peverell'?"

Harry took a sip of his tea, "Well, technically I am Harry Peverell. Just like how the little me is James Peverell. I did go to Gringotts and I changed our names. I want to keep people from looking for us."

"What is your plan?" Andromeda asked next, staring over the rim of her teacup.

He sets down the teacup, "Voldemort is going to come back if we don't stop him. I know where the items he's used to maintain his immortality are hidden. I also want to get Sirius out of Azkaban."

"Sirius is innocent?" She asked.

Harry snorted in amusement, "Hardly. But he isn't guilty. Peter Pettigrew betrayed the Potters and faked his death." He looked at Padma, "Since we are stuck here, I figure the best thing to do is to make it so the little Harry's life isn't as awful as mine had been, the last part of it aside."

Padma finished her tea, "Then I want in. What's the plan?"

Harry thought for a moment, "Well, I was going to gather the Horcruxes and bring them to Hogwarts so I could destroy them. While I'm doing that, I wanted to go to the Burrow and grab Wormtail."

She nodded, "Alright. How are you going to get them?"

"For the Cup, I'm going to have to sneak into Gringotts again and- ow!" Harry jumped as he felt a wandless stinging hex from his fiancee.

"That is a Dumbledore plan. Dumbledore plans end with teenagers fighting resurrected Dark Lords and I get to see one of my best friends get killed by a werewolf." Padma said slowly as if speaking to a child. "What you will do is get Sirius, the Head of House Black out of Azkaban by capturing Wormtail and then you can have him _**take**_ the Cup out of the Lestrange Vault."

She sighed, "This is why you and Granger spent the winter hiding in a tent. You let an old man who wouldn't be straight-forward if you held a wand to his head make you be sneaky. I love you, I love you enough that I took a one-way trip to the nineteen-eighties, but you are not sneaky."

Harry frowned, "I got through Gringotts just fine the last time."

"No, you didn't." Padma said, "I've heard that story from you. On the back of a Ukranian Ironbelly with Goblin guards trying to kill you. Then when you went back to make amends it was only the fact that there had been a Horcrux in the vault that kept you from getting made about a head's height shorter."

"I like your Fiancee," Andromeda said simply with a small smile gracing her lips, "She's right you know, the simplest answer is usually the best."

"Alright, so I'll get Sirius out and have him get the Cup out of Bellatrix's vault. The Diary is still with Malfoy-"

"Lucius has one of those things? He gave Bella and Cissy's husband each part of his soul?" Andromeda interrupted him. When Harry nodded she scoffed, "Idiot. At least Bella kept hers in a vault. If Cissy doesn't know about that item in her house, with her baby in the same house, she'll kill him. What does the Diary look like?"

Harry described the Diary of Tom Riddle and its soul stealing capabilities and Andromeda stood drawing her wand. At her utterance of the Patronus Charm, a silvery owl appeared. "Message for Narcissa Malfoy: Sister, this is Andromeda. There is a Horcrux in your house. It is a diary, bound in leather, owned formerly by one Tom Marvolo Riddle, otherwise known as your Dark Lord. In case you wish to remove it before Draco gets to the exploring stage you can bring it to me to be disposed of. A word of warning; don't get any ink into it, the Diary will use your soul to bring Riddle back."

The owl vanished into the night and Andromeda sat back down, "Knowing Lucius, he'll be at the Ministry putting his money to 'good use' keeping his worthless ass out of Azkaban."

"Hopefully that's one on the way then." Harry said, "The Diadem will be easy, it's at Hogwarts. The Locket is with Kreacher, Sirius can force him to give it to us."

"The Ring is most likely still at the Gaunt shack," Padma mused, "How will you get past the curse on it?"

"I have a suitably non-Dumbledore plan for that. The curse only affects you if you put it on. So I'm not going to put it on." Harry said, "I'll take a stick off of a tree and use it to move the Ring."

Padma sighed, "Harry, you have a wand. Use the wand first to make sure there are no compulsion charms tied to the Ring. Something like, oh I don't know, maybe something that makes you want to put it on." She looked at Andromeda, "Is it always this hard to keep men alive?"

Then she paled, realizing who she was talking to. Harry reached over and took her hand, "It's okay Padma, no one died yet." Seeing the look of confusion on Andromeda's face he made a decision, "During our war with Voldemort, Ted...Ted ran off to keep the Death Eaters from coming here...where his wife, daughter, son-in-law, and grandchild were staying. He didn't make it."

Andromeda smiled sadly, "That sounds like Ted. Instead of letting me contract Ward-crafters to give us a stronger defense, he took matters into his own hands." She shook her head, "Did his plan at least work?"

Harry nodded, "Until the final battle. Tonks and her husband Remus Lupin went to Hogwarts...they didn't make it..." Harry looked up at the stairs, where he knew the littlest member of the Tonks family was playing, "She made me her sons godfather, so I was helping you raise him."

Andromeda followed his gaze, "Who?"

"Bellatrix. She was killed a little while later by Molly Weasley."

Andromeda nodded at that, "Bella always was the cruelest of the sisters. I wish I could say she was abused, but she wasn't. She was exactly what they wanted; a brilliant and magically powerful witch. She took to the Dark Arts as a baby takes to mothers milk."

"If we do this right, she'll never leave Azkaban." Harry said, "If she does, I'll kill her myself."

Padma stood up, "Harry, I'm going to need to get some things to wear. I'm in a wedding dress for a wedding scheduled for a few decades in the future..."

"I have some things in my room, they will be a bit long on you, but we can adjust it," Andromeda said, rising and walking upstairs.

Harry and Padma hadn't been alone together since for her the other day and for Harry, it had been three weeks. He looked at her, "You look wonderful Love.." He said softly, earning a smile from her.

"Thank you, we'll have to establish who I am. I'm reasonably sure my parents will believe me after I give them an Oath." She said, "It will be weird not having Parvati with me when we do get married."

Harry hugged her, "We'll make this work."

She hugged back, Harry was right, they would. Because she was going to make sure that whenever he was channeling Albus Dumbledore, she would be there to smack him in the head.


	2. Chapter 2

**The Peverell Legacy**

 **A/N: I own nothing, especially not HP. Welcome to another fanfic, Italics are for thoughts and Bold is for spells. Here's chapter two, enjoy! Updates will be slow as ideas come to me.**

 **Chapter Two: The Burrow and beyond**

Harry and Padma were inside the house he'd found. She was cradling the sleeping Harry Potter in her arms. "You look very natural with him." Harry said as she held his younger self in her arms.

She smiled, "What can I say? He's better company that you." She teased him before leaning and kissing the top of the baby's head. "So, in order to free Sirius, we need Wormtail. Do you suppose he's made it to the Weasleys yet?"

Harry thought for a moment, "He should be. At the very least we can check." He went to his desk and sat down, "I have an idea for how we can get him."

"I can't wait to hear this." Padma said as she the baby down on a soft cushion, applying a wandless sticking charm so he wouldn't wriggle away. "What is your plan?"

"We go in and say we are unspeakables. You say that we've discovered an unregistered animagus." Harry said, "Then we stun him and take him to Azkaban."

Padma stepped over beside him. She smacked him softly, "Harry, did you forget that Arthur Weasley works at the Ministry. My department isn't that big, at any time there are less than thirty of us. He most likely knows who works there. Besides, the only witch in the department at this time is Pandora Lovegood."

"Next," She said, "if you waltz into the Burrow and tell them you've found an unregistered animagus, he'll hear it and scarper off." She looked at the desk as she began to think. "I think we should go to the Ministry and see Arthur first. Tell him what we are."

"So, tell another person that we are time-travelers?" Harry said quizzically, "I thought we weren't supposed to let anyone know."

"Harry, if someone knew there was a murderer sleeping in your child's bed, would you want to know?" Padma asked him shrugging. "We make him promise not to reveal anything. It would be a fair trade I think."

"So, we go to the Ministry and see Mr. Weasley?" Harry asked. When Padma nodded he wrote it down on the checklist he had created. "See Arthur about Wormtail. Then go to the Burrow?" He said as he wrote.

"Yes. Then after we've captured Wormtail, we have Arthur send a message to Amelia Bones. She will be very interested in the former hero-turned-Death Eater and the Death Eater that wasn't."

"Speak to Amelia." Harry nodded, "Alright. We'll start tomorrow morning." He looked at the clock on the wall, "It's too late to do all this today." He stood up and drew her into his arms, "We are having dinner with the Tonks family today, d'you think Tonks has forgiven you for 'stealing her man' yet?" He teased.

Padma laughed, "When Andromeda took me to the market, she informed me that Nymphadora is very cross that an 'old woman' is living with you.. I think she might forgive me around the time 'James Peverell' is old enough to get her interest."

"You are not allowed to use my younger self as a bargaining chip to make Tonks like you." Harry said, to which Padma merely laughed and released the baby from the sticking charm and scooped him into her arms. The young Harry burped quietly at the jostling.

"He's so adorable." Padma said kissing his head.

Harry scoffed, "So, baby-me is adorable when he burps, but when I do it I'm an 'uncivilized jackas- ow!" He winced as she smacked him with her free hand.

"Language. Also, a baby burp is cute, whereas your lager belch isn't." She pointed out with a smirk. "Right, grab his diaper bag and let's go." Without waiting, Padma walked out of the study with the baby in her arms.

Scene Break

"So, how did the two of you meet?" Andromeda asked Padma as the two witches stood in the kitchen, Andromeda poured them both a glass of wine. This was their moment to spend while Ted had dragged Harry upstairs to his private office to show him his collection of vintage dueling holsters and the baby Harry was being used as a dress-up doll by Tonks.

"We went to Hogwarts together. He was dating another girl when he wasn't fighting Voldemort. After they broke up after his seventh-year, he was working as an Auror and I had just started at the Department of Mysteries." Padma looked at the wine but didn't drink any, "We had a mission in Moscow together and after we racked up about six life-debts apiece for each other, we figured it made more sense to get married."

"How romantic..." Andromeda said with a wry grin, "You tell it so well."

"We were in Moscow for six months. Six months he was the only person I knew I could trust and vice-versa. We grew very close when we weren't dodging dark curses." Padma said, "I meant it when I said I loved him."

"I was teasing you." Andromeda pointed out, "You and Harry are an interesting couple to me just out of the circumstances that I met you two." She meant it too, Andromeda had never thought it was possible to travel back in time like this, but here they were.

"Could you do something for me?" Padma asked after a moment, "Before I left, I had found out I was carrying Harry's baby...could you perform a diagnostic charm for me?"

Andromeda nodded and performed the spell. At the soft pink glow, she smiled, "It seems you have a healthy baby girl inside you."

There was a knock on her back door that drew the two witches attention. Andromeda walked towards it with her wand in a low ready stance. "Who's there?" She asked.

"It is your sister." Came a clipped voice, "I have no interest in being in this disgusting muggle village, so kindly allow me inside."

"Charming." Padma muttered to herself. Ignoring her, Andromeda opened the door. In stepped a twenty-six year old Narcissa Malfoy wearing black robes and a veil so that no one could see her as she entered her estranged sisters home.

"Here is the book you wished for." She said placing the book onto the counter. "The diary of Tom Riddle."

"The Horcrux of Voldemort, you mean." Padma said. "I'll be back in a moment, I'm going to get Harry for this." Padma walked out of the room, leaving the two Black sisters alone.

"So, where did Lucius have this hidden?" Andromeda said, "Wine?"

"No. Thank you, I do not wish to stay any longer than I must." She looked at the unassuming book, "Part of his soul is in there and Lucius had it on the bookshelf in his study." She curled her lip in disgust.

Padma returned with Harry. This surprised Narcissa as he looked very much like a man who was supposed to be dead, "James Potter?"

"Hadrian Peverell, Mrs. Malfoy." Harry said, "Harry if you prefer." He looked at the leather-bound book, "That's the one." He turned to Andromeda, "You may want to leave the room. I need to destroy this."

"How do you plan to do that?" Narcissa asked him, "Horcruxes are supposed to be nearly indestructible."

Finally, Harry had a moment where he could be the superior one. Adopting a very Padma-like smirk, he drew his wand and aimed it at the book, "There's technically two souls bound to this. The first one is of Myrtle Warren, you may know her better as Moaning Myrtle, the other, much smaller, is the fragment of Tom Riddle, otherwise known as Voldemort."

He began to concentrate, "Since the part we need to destroy is a soul, I'm going to use a spell that can do just that." That got a reaction from the Black sisters, where Padma looked appraisingly at him.

"Avada Kedavra. It is easier to contain than fiendfyre, and we don't have access yet to basilisk venom. Good choice." She nodded, "I'm staying to watch."

"As am I." Andromeda said, "From what you've told me about these things, it's possibly the only chance I'll see this sort of thing in my own home...thank Merlin." She added as an afterthought.

"If this is indeed a Horcrux, I want to watch its destruction. Lucius will have to answer to me if it is." Narcissa said, "I refuse to have part of that thing in my house with my son."

Harry summoned up the hatred he had for Voldemort with the two words and a flash of green light, the book was rendered inert. A terrible screech had erupted at the moment that the spell hit the book. "That's one down. Next we need Sirius to get the Locket and the Cup." Harry said before turning to Narcissa, "Voldemort gave this one to Lucius. He gave another to your sister Bellatrix, and another he hid, but it was taken by the Black House Elf on the orders of Regulus."

"Lovely exposition." Padma said evenly, "Mrs. Malfoy, you have just played a role in the final destruction of the most dangerous being in recent memory."

 _Twice now_ Harry thought to himself.

"You are welcome to stay for dinner, Narcissa." Andromeda offered, "I haven't seen you in a very long time. You may act like you will need to burn these robes, but I have missed my sister."

"I- very well." Narcissa said after a moment. In truth, before the day Andromeda was taken from the family tapestry, she and her sisters had been nearly inseparable. Narcissa had deeply mourned losing her. But, she had her pride. She would not beg forgiveness for something she hadn't had a part of. At any time prior to the message regarding the diary, Andromeda could have sent word and Narcissa would have-

She would have ignored it. Their parents teachings had taken root in her mind. Internally sighing, Narcissa looked at her oldest sister, "I- I have missed you as well."

While the dinner would be awkward, it was at least the beginning of something. Back at their home that night, Harry and Padma lay in their bed. "That's twice Narcissa Malfoy has defied Voldemort. We keep involving her and Draco can be the hero of the wizarding world." He said, laughing at the thought.

"Her husband is a piece of shit." Padma mused, "Did I ever tell you about the time he tried to get me removed from the Department?" She stretched languidly in their bed, "He thought he could intimidate me into leaving when I investigated some items confiscated from his private study." She pressed a kiss to his cheek, "Everyone thinks they are an alpha male until the castration charms start flying."

Scene Break

Arthur Weasley hadn't expected to see a young man who looked this much like James Potter walk into his office. Nor had he expected the young man to give an Oath revealing himself as a time-displaced Harry Potter. "You mean to tell me that Scabbers is-"

"Peter Pettigrew. Former Order of the Phoenix member who turned traitor and allowed Voldemort into the hiding place of James and Lily Potter." Harry finished for him. "We need your help in capturing him and freeing Sirius from Azkaban."

"We trust you Mr. Weasley." Padma said, "However, due to events that happened prior to our arrival, we do not trust Molly with this news. We need you to keep this secret for us."

"I don't like keeping things from my wife." Arthur said frowning, "but I will help you. James and Lily were good people who deserved better. If the betrayer of the Potter family is at my home, then you have my permission to cross the wards."

"Thank you sir," Harry said, shaking Arthur's hand. He and Padma left the office and made their way to the apparation point so they could leave for the Burrow.

The pair arrived in the front yard of the home that had once been Harry's first glimpse at what he believed a healthy family life was like. _Now that I know the truth..._ He thought with a sigh. Molly Weasley was, far from a warm and loving woman when riled. Harry had riled the woman quite a lot when he'd broken up with Ginny and even more after he'd begun dating Padma.

Things had been said. Things that didn't need to be repeated in Harry's opinion. "Please be calm." He said to Padma as he prepared to knock on the door. "She hasn't called you anything yet."

"Harry, I already won. I'm your fiancee, I'm carrying your baby. Plus her daughter hasn't been born yet." Padma enjoyed the look of surprise on his face for a moment before telling him more, "I found out before coming here. I was concerned that time travel could have affected the baby, so I didn't tell you until I spoke to a healer. Andromeda confirmed it for me."

"We're going to have a baby?" Harry said stunned, "Well shit, now I have to save the world don't I?"

Padma laughed and took his hand, "We have to save the world dear."

Harry knocked on the door and after a moment, Molly Weasley opened it. "May I help you?" She asked them.

"Mrs. Weasley? My name is Auror Henry Evans and this is-" Harry began before Padma interrupted.

"Unspeakable Priya Stanhope. We are here because Arthur Weasley has given us permission to cross your wards in search of some unusual magical readings." Padma said, not looking at Harry or his raised eyebrow.

 _She ended up liking my idea after all._ He thought, internally pleased by this thought.

"What sort of 'unusual readings'?" Molly asked the pair, "I haven't seen anything out of the ordinary." She looked at the two of them, "Do you have any proof?"

Reaching into his robes, Harry drew out his old badge. "Auror First Class." He said showing it to her.

Padma merely drew her wand and traced a complicated pattern in the air, "Unspeakable designation Alpha Eight Six." She said, causing the pattern to light up.

"Now then, if we could come inside?" Harry said to Molly who nodded and allowed them inside. "We are here because we found evidence that a hero of the wizarding world is hiding from dark wizards here."

"Peter Pettigrew, though at the moment he is hiding in his animagus form of a brown rat." Padma completed for him.

"A rat- do you mean Scabbers?" Molly asked them.

Harry nodded, "If Scabbers is missing a finger on its paw, then that is the rat we are looking for."

"Percy! Please come down here and bring Scabbers with you!" Molly turned and shouted. A few moments later a little red-haired boy came downstairs with a squirming brown rat in his hands.

"That's the one right there." Harry said, "Percy, would you mind setting your rat down for us please?"

Scabbers squeaked as the little boy did as he was asked and made a break for it. Padma flicked her wand, revealing the man who had robbed both Harry's of their family. "Hello Peter, my name is James Evans, I am an Auror. We have been looking for you."

"F-for me?" Wormtail said shakily.

Padma nodded, "Indeed we have Mr. Pettigrew." Nearly too fast for Padma to follow, Harry stunned the man.

Molly was shocked, "What are you doing?" She cried out, "You said he was a hero!"

"He isn't. He was the secret-keeper for the Potters. No one could have found them without his help." Harry said, "Now he's going to Azkaban where he belongs."

Harry used his wand to levitate the unconscious man. "Mrs. Weasley, this man is one of those most responsible for the tragedy that befell the Potters." He looked coldly at the still form, "If I had my way, he'd be dead already."

Once outside, Padma transfigured Wormtail back into a rat and placed him inside of a glass bottle. Charming the bottle to be unbreakable, she placed the bottle inside the pocket of her robes and then the pair vanished, reappearing at their home. Harry prepared to floo call the DMLE while Padma withdrew the bottled rat from her pocket and placed him on the desk.

"If we didn't need you alive..." She began looking down at the rat that had woken up at some point during the apparation and trip into the house. She smiled coldly, "I wouldn't try changing back. The bottle is unbreakable, it would be such a pity if you were to force all of your mass through the opening. It's rather tiny and would probably hurt a great deal."

She tapped her finger on the side of the bottle, "Between you and me, I would love to watch you ooze out the top like toothpaste. You deserve pain and agony. But dying is too good for you."

She smiled softly, "I hear footsteps. Harry is coming back. I hope you enjoyed your freedom. It's over now."

Inside the bottle Wormtail squeaked in terror as Harry and a tall stern woman stepped into the room. "That's him?" Amelia Bones asked.

"Yes ma'am." Harry said, "That is the real betrayer of the Potter family."

"And how do you know that?" She asked, "For all I know this is a ruse to have Peter Pettigrew killed and Sirius Black free to take over where his master left off."

"Silencing charm on the bottle please." He said to Padma. She tapped her wand and suddenly Wormtail could hear nothing. But he could read facial expressions. The man who looked like James Potter was holding his wand out. There was a bright flash, and then the rat looked on as Amelia Bones' face went pale and she turned to glare at his glass prison.

Outside the bottle, Amelia was trying to make sense of what she had been told. This was Harry Potter from literal decades into the future. But he'd given an oath on his life and magic that he was who he said and that he was telling her the truth.

"Mr. Potter, I will take Pettigrew to one of our secure holding cells. Once we have a full testimony, I promise that Sirius Black will be freed from Azkaban on my authority as the newly appointed Director for the Department of Magical Law Enforcement." Amelia said after a moment.

The bottle was lifted and Harry watched the tall auburn-haired woman walk out with the rat. _You'll be home soon Sirius._ He vowed to himself.


	3. Chapter 3

**The Peverell Legacy**

 **A/N: I own nothing, especially not HP. Welcome to another fanfic, Italics are for thoughts and Bold is for spells. Here's chapter three, enjoy! Updates will be slow as ideas come to me.**

 **Chapter Three: Padma releases her inner Slytherin**

Sirius looked shocked. The man who had saved him from Azkaban was nearly a dead ringer for James Potter. Except for a small scar and green eyes that reminded him of a different Potter. He'd come with a small attache case and the contents, along with a small bottle containing a familiar looking rat had spelled his freedom.

"Who are you?" He asked as they waited for the boat to arrive. When the man just smiled Sirius asked again, "Who are you? How did you do this?"

"Don't worry Padfoot, all will be explained once we take you to see Harry." The stranger said with a smirk that reminded him very much of James.

"How do you know that name?" Sirius asked, beginning to panic slightly. "Shit. You're a Death Eater aren't you?"

Harry laughed, "No, I am definitely not a Death Eater." He patted his case, "What I am, is a man who knew you were innocent and took the appropriate steps to fix the problem."

"So, who are you then?" Sirius asked a third time.

Harry took pity, "My name is Hadrian Peverell. I represent the interests of Harry Potter." He explained, "My fiancee, Padma will be waiting for us to discuss how we will proceed with your status as Harry's godfather and mine as his legal guardian."

While Harry explained what he could to Sirius, Padma was handling business of her own. A small brown bird sat on the window of Bellatrix Lestrange's cell watching the mad witch. Bellatrix looked up at the bird, "Hello little one...why don't you come closer" She said, holding her hand out to the little bird. The bird turned its head and stared at her before hopping into her cell and then in its place was a caramel skinned woman with straight black hair.

"Hello Bellatrix, my name is Padma," The unfamiliar witch said drawing her wand before Bellatrix could move and binding her to her bed. "I think you and I need to have a little chat."

"Nimble little thing, aren't you?" Bellatrix said testing the tightness of her bindings, "The Dementors will have fun with you." She added after finding them too tight to move.

"They would but I have something for that, it's a spell a friend of mine worked out before I came to see you." Padma said casting another spell on the bars of her cell, "If they get too close it will be as if a patronus was cast."

"You must be an unspeakable, friend of Rookwood's?" Bellatrix asked her, "Or did I kill someone you cared about and you want some revenge of some sort?"

Padma frowned, "You haven't killed her yet. But you would have, if everything stayed the same, in another seventeen years or so. That's why I'm here." She pointed her wand and uttered the Killing Curse. Padma looked at the corpse before her and then removed the bindings before changing back into her animagus form and flying back out. _That's for Cho..._ She thought as she left Azkaban Island.

Cho Chang, one of her closest friends during her time at Hogwarts had been murdered by the Snatchers during the winter of ninety-seven. During her time in the Department of Mysteries, Padma had found the records of whom had been directing the squads in their hunt for 'undesirables'. Bellatrix Lestrange had been the one commanding them, now she was dead and the world was that much safer for it.

She apparated back to Watchbell Street and picked up the little Harry Potter from Andromeda. "Time for you to meet an idiot." She said, placing a kiss on the toddler's forehead, earning a giggle from the boy.

"I take it that means Harry is on his way with my erstwhile cousin?" Andromeda said, "Nymphadora will loving having Sirius back with us again."

Padma nodded, "We'll send him over to see you after I'm done with him. I have quite a few words for him." She paused then, unsure if she needed to tell Andromeda what she'd done. "I- I killed Bellatrix today." She admitted quietly.

"I wish I felt sad, or angry that you killed the woman who was once my closest friend," Andromeda admitted, her gaze locked upon a picture on her bookshelf. Picking it up, she brought it over to Padma, "But she considered me the enemy from the day I fell in love with Ted. You've already told me that she would have killed the rest of my family. I just pray that wherever her soul ends up, she stays there."

Padma took the baby back to their house next door and waited. The boat to Azkaban was notoriously slow, so she knew she still most likely had a few minutes before Harry and Sirius arrived. She decided to use that time to good effect. Setting Harry in his nursery, she began to cast cleaning charms around the house.

Padma felt the wards in the backyard. _Harry must be back_ she thought as she made her way downstairs to the backdoor in the kitchen. Sure enough, she saw her soon-to-be husband and his godfather in the yard. Opening the door, she stepped outside, "So, the dog-father returns." She said looking at Sirius before kissing Harry. "Harry is in his nursery, kindly keep all earth-shattering revelations to the study, that's where the silencing charms are."

Harry looked at Padma for a moment, "Are you going somewhere?" He asked her.

She shook her head, "Not yet. First and foremost I want to say one thing," She drew herself up to her full height, which brought her to roughly the height of his chin, "How dare you put your stupid desire for revenge before your responsibility as Harry's godfather! Do you have any idea the kind of life he would have had because you had to get into a wand-measuring contest with Peter Pettigrew?"

"I was trying to capture him, to bring him to justice!" Sirius said, trying to defend himself.

Crack! Much like Harry, Sirius how knew how strong Padma's left hand was. Sirius held his cheek as Padma glared at him, "You saw the man who betrayed your best friend as more important that keeping their only son safe!" Harry stopped her from slapping him again by placing a hand on her arm. She pulled away roughly and then stepped back, "I'm going out. I will return after he's left." She apparated away, leaving the two alone in the yard.

"I'm sure you'd like to see Harry Potter," Harry said to the man, "the nursery is upstairs, follow me." It was an awkward silence as they walked inside the house. "She's right you know," Harry said quietly, "Number Four was a horrible place."

"He was only there for a short time, it couldn't be as bad as all that-" Sirius began, but was interrupted when Harry stood in front of him.

"It's me. Sirius. I'm Harry just as much as the little boy in the nursery is." He lifted his fringe, showing the now faded scar.

"That's impossible- I- h-how?" Sirius sputtered, trying to make sense of it. It couldn't be true, but then he noticed that those eyes were, in fact, Lily's, that he had James' hair, and that the scar, while nearly invisible now, was the same lightning bolt he'd seen on his godson's forehead.

"My best friend was trying to repair the time-turner his girlfriend used in our third year, incidentally that's the year we first met." Harry said, "It exploded and I woke up at Grimmauld Place. Padma used a ritual to find me and came here. Since then we've been making sure that our future never happens. I want this Harry Potter to grow up happy and loved."

"What happened in that future?" Sirius said, "What was so bad that you've been doing everything you can to change it?"

"Everything." Harry said, "Come on, I'll explain in the nursery." With that, Harry led Sirius upstairs.

Scene Break

Accidents happen, that is a sad but true fact of life. In the case of one Lucius Malfoy, his accident was that he fell down the stairs. With a knife. Said knife fell with him in such a way that he stabbed himself thirty-seven times. Accidentally.

Narcissa and Padma sat in the parlor while the House Elves busily cleaned the floor of the remains of the Death Eater. Narcissa sipped her tea slowly, "This is a lovely brew I picked up from a shop in Chelsea. Lucius would have never approved of my going into a muggle shop." She said to Padma, "Would you like a biscuit?"

"Yes please," Padma said taking one off of the tray, "Jam sandwich, lovely." She nibbled the treat, "So, what will you tell the Aurors?"

"Nothing. Lucius absconded with a portion of our vault and left seeking signs that the Dark Lord was still out there somewhere." Narcissa replied choosing a gingersnap for herself. "We will need to arrange a play date for your James and my Draco at some point."

That caused Padma to nearly inhale her tea. _I can't wait to tell Harry that one_ she thought, "I'll talk to Harry about it." She said, "It will be good for both of them to have someone their own age."

Narcissa sighed as she set down her tea, "So, tell me something; your Harry resembles James Potter a great deal, are they related somehow?"

Padma nodded, "In a very round and about sort of way, yes. The Peverells and the Potters are connected."

"Peverell is a very old name, your Harry should leverage it." Narcissa said, "Once you are more settled, will the two of you be looking into work?"

"Possibly, though I think I'll stay with James until he's ready for school. Harry though, knowing him, he'll look for work at the DMLE." She omitted the word _again_ from that statement, "He's always going out and trying to save the damned world."

"Brave, if foolish. He was a Gryffindor I take it?" Narcissa replied to that as she finished her gingersnap.

She nodded, "He was. The bravest idiot I've ever met. I fell in love with him when I saw him take the head off of a werewolf in Moscow." She smiled at the memory, "It wasn't even a cutting spell, it was meant to be a stunner, but he put too much magic into it."

Narcissa raised a slender eyebrow, "An...interesting way to begin a courtship."

Padma laughed, "He's a wonderful field agent, right up until he gets angry. He's not great at controlling his emotions. When we captured Wormtail everything was going perfectly up until he broke script and stunned him." She said to the blonde witch.

As the two witches continued their conversation Padma kept thinking back to Harry. She wanted to have their wedding as soon as the other Horcruxes were dealt with.

"Now, about the reason I actually invited you over." Narcissa said, "You knew what the Diary held. You knew where Pettigrew was hiding. Who are you two really?" She looked at the tea, "I could have used veritaserum, I did not because you earned my trust. You saved my son from potentially losing himself if he'd ever found that Diary."

"We are lost people, lost in time. We found ourselves here and we want a better world, that's all." Padma said, unwilling to name who she and Harry were.

Narcissa accepted that after a quiet moment, "I can accept that. After all, I am on speaking terms with my sister again." She noticed Padma's face fall slightly, "Did you have a sister?"

"I do. She's probably very cross that I came here without telling her. That's assuming that our time even exists anymore. Luna wasn't very clear about if our timelines were parallel or interwoven." Padma's eyes widened, "Luna! I almost forgot the promise I made when I arrived. I need to send a letter to her mother."

Narcissa thought for a moment, "I wish my eldest sister wasn't- well the way she is I suppose. I largely ignored my husband's activities and didn't take part in them. Bella reveled in them."

"She did unforgivably horrible things. But she's your sister, so I understand missing her." Padma said, "Were the two of you close?"

Narcissa nodded, "Bella was my best friend. In her own insane way, she protected me from the other Death Eaters. They knew better than to mess with her sister, lest she pay them a visit. If you were on good terms with her, she was very loyal if not especially loving. The loss of Andromeda hit her very hard." Narcissa stood up and turned away, looking at the same picture she'd seen at Andromeda's house. "Three sisters, inseparable from the moment each of us could walk. One ran away to be with the man she loved, one threw herself headlong into the dark arts, and then the youngest one hid in a loveless marriage until someone came along and showed her just how dangerous her hiding place was."

"If Bella ever gets out of Azkaban, and she finds out what I've done, she'll most likely try to kill me." Narcissa admitted quietly, "But I had to. Draco couldn't be in a house that held a piece of that bastard."

"She will never leave Azkaban." Padma assured her, "It's impossible to escape from."

"So is time travel beyond what a time-turner can provide," Narcissa replied looking at the picture before setting it back down.

Padma went to reply but a silvery stag appeared beside her, "Padma, Sirius went back to Grimmauld Place. We miss you, come home." Harry's voice said from the mouth of the stag.

Padma rose from her chair, "I should get back." She said drawing her wand, "I need to do some shopping for my wedding, would you like to accompany Andromeda and me?" She asked.

"I would like that," Narcissa said. Padma nodded and then vanished with a soft crack.

Narcissa went upstairs to the nursery and picked up her son. Draco stirred a bit and then settled back into sleep. Draco hadn't been an easy birth, the Black family never had easy births. Each baby was a gift, they were taught. He was worth murdering Lucius. He was worth earning the ire of her sister. He was worth everything to Narcissa.

Scene Break

Padma and Harry were in bed. It had been a long and trying day, but it had ended well. "Padfoot is terrified of you," Harry said with a laugh as he pressed a kiss to his fiancee's shoulder.

"As well he should be." She replied curling into his side, the chill of her feet touching his leg causing him to flinch slightly. "If you hadn't stopped me I would have slapped him again, and most likely a third time."

Harry kissed her hair, taking in her scent, "If he had raised me, what's to say I would be the man you fell in love with?" He asked her quietly, "I am everything that I am in response to the life I lived."

"Don't you try to get philosophical with me Potter." Padma said rolling her eyes, "You failed out of Divination, remember?" When he began to laugh, she elbowed him. "Keep it up. Laugh at me again and see if I tell you what Narcissa asked me."

His curiosity piqued he couldn't help it, "What did she ask you?" Harry asked.

Padma snuggled in deeper before replying, "She is interested in making this a triad. She says she found both of us very attractive." When Harry sputtered she began laughing. "You make this far to easy Potter."

"I hate you."

"No, you love me." Padma replied smugly, "I'll tell Narcissa you said you'll think about it."


	4. Chapter 4

**The Peverell Legacy**

 **A/N: I own nothing, especially not HP. Welcome to another fanfic, Italics are for thoughts and Bold is for spells. Here's chapter four, enjoy! Fun fact about this chapter: It's shorter than I intended. Why? Because I just finished driving back from my home in Eastern NC to Atlanta to attend a funeral. I'm mentally wiped due to my relationship with the deceased but I keep my promises to myself. I promised I would finish this chapter and so I did. It is currently 2:55am EST and once I post this I won't be conscious, I hope, until it's 2:55pm EST.**

 **Chapter Four: One more Horcrux down**

"You know, you will have to go to Hogwarts at some point," Padma said over breakfast. "The Diadem is sitting in the same place it was in our time."

Harry nodded and turned from his plate to feed his younger self. "I know, I also know that Professor McGonagall is expecting to pay us a visit." The little Harry grabbed at the spoon and pulled it closer as he took the small piece of scrambled egg into his mouth. "Do you think we could tell her where it is?"

Padma sipped her coffee, "I think we can trust her, but the question is will she bring it to us to be destroyed or will she take it to the Headmaster?" Padma stood up and looked at the rising sun as the day outside was dawning. "I think it might be better if one of us were to go to apply for this year's DADA Professor job."

"How would we do that? I don't have any records, and neither do you." Harry replied. He watched Padma leave the kitchen for the study, coming back after a few moments with some parchment.

"That is where McGonagall can help. Not just her, but Narcissa as well. She inherited her husbands former spot on the Board of Governors." Padma said taking her coffee and sipping it, "Besides I can forge records easily enough. Since our magic seems to believe we are still an Auror and an Unspeakable, it's not like it would hard for me to craft some documents to let us move about." She smirked, "That is how we got out of Moscow, remember?"

"Yeah, as 'Benny and June Claybaker', you really do think of the worst names," Harry said teasingly. He winced as Padma reached over and pinched his arm.

"Prat." She said and then began to write on the parchment. "I'm writing a requisition for a blank form from the W.E.A." Padma stopped for a moment, "I wonder if Marchbanks is the head at this time?"

"She should be." Harry said thinking, "I remember her mentioning that she was at Dumbledore's tests." Padma nodded and continued to scribble.

"There we are," Padma said as she tapped her wand to the paper. "I've applied a mild confundus charm so that whatever clerk gets the letter won't question it and just send us the forms."

"You are sneaky," Harry said, earning a fake innocent smile from Padma. "So, when should I send a message to Professor McGonagall about meeting us?" He asked her.

Padma thought for a moment, "Arrange it for later this week. We need to go see Sirius and get the Locket and the Cup."

Harry looked at her, "Will you keep your temper?" He asked her, "At some point we need to be able to have an actual relationship with my godfather. If not for my sake or his." He said, indicating the baby.

"I make no promises except that I'll try." Padma said, "I won't actively go after him, but if he tries to make excuses then I'll remind him of what you lost thanks to his actions." She sighed and looked at him, "For your sake, whenever he makes me want to kill him, I will just think of when I killed Lestrange."

"Wait, what?"

"While we were at Azkaban. I went her cell and hit her with a Killing Curse. I am debating on if I should kill the other Death Eaters as well." Padma explained, "Not with the Killing Curse, not for all of them, but perhaps just poisoning their food."

"What if you get caught?" Harry asked, "I don't want you to end up getting Kissed."

"I'm not going to kill them over the course of a bank holiday weekend or anything." Padma said defending herself, "Just one or two every few months until they are all dead and gone."

She walked over to him, "You know what the Carrow's did at Hogwarts, but you really only know it indirectly. I was there. I saw it. I remember how Parv would come out of the Alecto Carrow's office barely able to make any noise because she'd been screaming so hard."

He took her into his arms and Padma leaned in, enjoying the feel of his arms. "I just don't want anything to happen to you. We have a chance to ensure that both of the Harry's and both of the Padma's in this timeline get the lives they deserve." He told her quietly.

"Fine, no murders until after the baby is born," Padma said after a few moments of thought. "Now to the mutts house!" Padma commanded.

Harry laughed and kissed her gently before releasing her. "I'll grab mini-me. Sirius will enjoy seeing him again."

Scene Break

It turned out that Padma's carefully laid plans hadn't counted on one thing. Sirius was a good man, that's true, but he possessed a glaring lack of foresight. Albus Dumbledore was sitting at the dining room table with him when they arrived. At his right was Minerva McGonagall and on his left was Remus Lupin.

"Of bloody course, the mutt called them," Padma muttered as Sirius led them inside.

Harry drew in a soft breath and adjusted his younger self in his arms. With the exception of Minerva, everyone in the table had been dead in their original timeline. "Professors." He said acknowledging them all with one word and a nod.

"You mustn't have met me in your timeline," Remus said awkwardly offering his hand. Harry smiled and shook it before sitting down and settling Harry.

"I did. You taught my third year Defense class. Then you vanished in my fourth year when I was forced against my will to compete in the Tri-Wizard Tournament. Then I saw you again in my fifth year." Harry said, "You were the only good Defense Professor I had. The others being in this order: Voldemort wearing Quirrell like a jackass tuxedo, a memory charm using probable rapist named Lockhart, yourself, a Death Eater, a Death Eater in all but name who carved my hand with a Blood Quill like Sunday's joint, Snape, and what joy that was, then I was chasing after Horcruxes so I didn't have time for Hogwarts until it was time to fight Voldemort there."

"You did destroy a Horcrux there though." Padma pointed out, "The Diadem."

That got a reaction from Dumbledore more than the idea of Voldemort teaching Defense. "The Diadem of Rowena Ravenclaw?"

Harry nodded. Before he could say anything, Padma turned her gaze to Remus, "My fiancee left out a few things about the you we met. He married Nymphadora Tonks, then he abandoned her when he found out she was pregnant."

Sirius turned to face Remus. Both men had matching pale expressions as Sirius looked at his only living best friend, "Mooney? You care to explain?"

"I'll explain for him." Padma said from her seat beside Harry, "Since it hasn't happened yet and Tonks, that's what she went by in our time, is a child besotted with my Harry, it would be difficult for him to explain why he abandoned his pregnant wife. The short answer is, he was worried about the stigma. Harry sent him packing and he returned home and was the dutiful and loving husband until both mother and father died defending Hogwarts from Voldemort. Teddy was raised jointly by Andromeda Tonks and Harry as grandmother and godfather until he arrived here." She looked at Remus for a moment and then to Sirius, "While I'm sure you would have given him a right bollocking about it, you were dead."

"De-dead?" Sirius managed after a moment, "But how?"

"Because I was an idiot and didn't open my Christmas gift in time." Harry said sadly, "I had a vision that you were being tortured by Voldemort and came to the Ministry. Turns out it was a lie sent to me by Voldemort in hopes that I would get him the Prophecy about us." He looked at Padma, "Remus is a good man, without him I wouldn't have survived my third year."

"Because he didn't take the same potion he knew he had to take every full moon." She groused but didn't say anything else about it. She looked at Sirius, "The one responsible for your death and Tonks' death, most likely Ted Tonks' death as well, and my best friend Cho's death died in Azkaban the same day you left it."

Harry looked at Albus, "I take it you have questions about all of this?" When the older man nodded Harry looked at Padma.

"We are prepared to show you memories of the events regarding Harry's time at Privet Drive, as well as what he considers the 'highlight reel', to borrow a muggle term, of the six years he attended Hogwarts." Padma offered the group.

"You had this planned out, did you put a listening charm on me?" Sirius asked the pair. It made sense to him, this was far too polished and rehearsed. He wasn't sure if he was annoyed or proud of the pair. Despite her obvious dislike for him, Sirius could see that Padma had Harry's best interest at heart. _Both Harry's._ He thought with a smile.

"No, Padfoot." Harry replied, "However, we were planning on meeting with Professor McGonagall in order to arrange a chance to get into Hogwarts and destroy the Diadem. The offer regarding memories was how we planned on proving to her that we are genuine when we say we want to end Voldemort here and now. As it is, we can destroy the Locket here at Grimmauld Place."

"How?" This question came from multiple sources. Harry chose to answer them with one word.

"Kreacher?" Harry called out. There was no response so Harry looked at Sirius, "Please call Kreacher and do so politely."

Sirius looked confused but nodded, "Kreacher, come here...please." He managed, the idea of being polite to the little festering sore that practically worshiped his mother irking him.

Kreacher appeared at the corner of the kitchen doorway. "Bad Master is calling on poor Kreacher?" The House Elf practically spat in distaste as he looked at the floor, "Poor Mistress Walburga would be so angry. Filth and blood traitors in the House of Black, what shame.."

"Kreacher," Harry said, "Will you bring me the Locket. If you will, I promise you that we will fulfill the last order Regulus left you." Harry ignored the shocked looks on the original occupants of this current time. "I know how to destroy it, I swear it to you."

Kreacher looked shocked and glared at Harry, "What do you know about Great Master Regulus, greatest of House Black?!" He spat at Harry.

Harry let the insulting tone roll off his back, "You were used to test the protections for the Locket. Regulus was furious that Voldemort would hurt his only friend like that. He asked you to destroy it." Harry looked at Sirius for a moment, "After you left, Regulus had no one to act as a counterpoint to his mother. Kreacher truly was his only friend and when Voldemort nearly killed him, he made sure that the Locket was no longer kept safe."

Kreacher vanished, reappearing a few moments later with the Locket. Slowly he set the locket down on the table. Harry stood up and drew his wand, "Whoever doesn't want to see Tom's soul fragment get dealt with should leave, carry little Harry out to the study while you are at it."

Padma rose with the infant in her arms, "I've seen you destroy the Diary, little man and I will be waiting." She kissed his cheek and made her way to the door, "Enjoy the show folks." She said as she departed the room.

Like with the Diary it was a simple matter for Harry. He opened the Locket using his parselmouth ability. Before the cloud had a chance to make any aspersions against his character though, Harry used a Killing Curse to destroy it. "It's done. Kreacher, you can keep the Locket as a reminder of Regulus if you'd like it." He said, picking it up and offering the Locket to the Elf. Kreacher took it with trembling hands and then threw himself at Harry's leg hugging it. Harry looked at the others, "Give us a minute, I remember how this was my first time around. He'll be hugging me for a little while."

"We will wait with Padma in the study then," Sirius said guiding the others out of the room. It was clear from the look on the Headmasters face that he had many questions for Harry and Padma. Sirius hoped that it was Harry who did the talking, though he wouldn't mind Padma snarking at everyone if she kept him out of it, he thought with a little smile.


	5. Chapter 5

**The Peverell Legacy**

 **A/N: I own nothing, especially not HP. Welcome to another fanfic, Italics are for thoughts and Bold is for spells. Here's chapter five, it's the second half of the chapter I posted last time, enjoy!**

 **Chapter Five: Padma comes clean**

Padma paced holding the baby Harry in her arms. _I can't believe that stupid mutt brought them here! Fucking Lupin was bad enough, but Dumbledore?_ She looked down at the baby in her arms, "I promise you this much if we have to take you to fucking Beauxbatons you will not attend that school while that miserable long-bearded taint-polishing asshole is there." She said in a harsh whisper, "My sister was barely able to function thanks to his 'let's forgive all the Death Eaters' policy, my best friend died because they didn't immediately execute them after their trial, you are not going to deal with that man."

 _Neither will you Bodhi..._ She thought about the baby growing within her. Bodhi Peverell would not grow up in a world ruled by blood purists. She would not grow up in a world tormented by Voldemort or his Death Eaters. _If I have to set fire to Azkaban and make sure that no one escapes I will._

The two biggest threats aside from Voldemort himself were dead. She'd killed Bellatrix and Narcissa killed Lucius. By now Amelia Bones should have gotten both Crouch and his son, it wouldn't be in the Prophet, knowing the DMLE Director from stories Susan had told them she would do everything quietly to avoid undue notice from the press or the Ministry.

She finally sat down in an overstuffed chair by the fire. The door opened and she saw Minerva step into the room. "Professor." She said quietly, nodding in greeting to the woman.

"Miss Patil." Minerva said sitting down on the couch opposite her, "I wonder if you would be so good as to tell me why you seem so intent on making any sort of encounter with us fraught with ill-repressed anger?"

"Certainly," Padma said as she cuddled the now sleeping baby into her arms. "With the exception of yourself, myself, and Harry, every other adult in this house is in some way responsible for why someone close to me has suffered." She held up her free hand, "First there is the mutt. He abandoned his charge as Godfather because he thought revenge was more important." She held up another finger, "Next we have Remus Lupin; besides abandoning Tonks when she was pregnant, he never spent any time with Harry outside of being a Professor or a member of the Order out of fear of his 'condition'." A third finger went up, "Dumbledore sent Harry to live with the muggles, he allowed Snape to bully and demean not just him, but every non-Slytherin student, thanks to him not using his office in the Wizengamot to push for execution of convicted Death Eaters, Voldemort was able to recover nearly all of his inner circle including Bellatrix Lestrange, the witch who caused the deaths of many, many people Harry considered dear to him including the mutt, Nymphadora Tonks, her father Ted, and my best friend Cho Chang." She held up a fourth and final finger, "The Carrow twins, while not directly the fault of Dumbledore as they arrived after he was killed, tortured my sister to the point where she very nearly took her own life to escape them." She paused for a breath, looking down at the baby she kissed his head gently. "Harry is, as he was in our timeline, stupidly forgiving. He sees this as a chance to have his godfather back, to reconnect with his favorite Defense Professor, and to ensure a world where this Harry never has to suffer the life he had."

"You seem to have had that bottled up for some time," Minerva said to the younger woman.

"Only since I was sixteen for my sister and twenty for the stuff about Harry," Padma said offhandedly. "The man I love deserves better than being used by that long-bearded twit."

"Professor Dumbledore is-"

"He's a jackass who was so concerned with 'letting Harry grow up without the stress of his status as the boy-who-lived affect him' that he ended up letting Harry go face to face with Voldemort without any training outside of the basics we learned by our sixth year." Padma said looking away from the woman, "Do you know how Tom Riddle died for good in our time? He died fighting Harry while a bunch of teenagers and a handful of adults fought his army of Death Eaters, Acromantulas, and werewolves. I watched Lavender Brown, a girl I considered a sister, bleed out thanks to Fenrir Greyback. I saw the line of bodies; Professors, Order members, fucking children left for their families if they had one because he didn't stop it during the very long period where Voldemort was a wraith in Albania!"

The words struck Minerva like a series of physical blows. Padma noticed the pain on her face and winced, "You are the only one here that neither Harry or myself can blame. You stood up for him, you fought for him and with him." She looked contrite as she stroked the baby's cheek, "Harry loves you, considers you part of his family."

"And you?" Minerva managed after a moment.

Padma smiled sadly, "Besides Harry, the little man here, and ours on the way, I don't know if I can fully trust anyone." She watched the baby in her arms grasp her finger, pulling it to his lips and gently chewing it.

Padma knew that she was damaged from her time before. Harry had bought her a book from a muggle shop when they'd begun seriously discussing life together. _Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder_. He'd wanted her to speak to someone, but the problem with the wizarding world was that they didn't have therapists. They could heal damage to the body, but they couldn't heal minds.

The doors opened and the four men stepped inside. Harry went to Padma's side and kissed her, "Kreacher is wearing his locket again and Riddle is down another soul fragment." He told her happily, "Sirius is ready to go to Gringotts and take the Cup out of the Lestrange Vault."

"Wonderful." Padma said, "You boys can handle that on your own. I'll take a little man here with me. I've got a tea date with Narcissa and Andromeda in an hour." She stood and shifted the baby so her arm had a chance to rest. "I take it the floo powder is in the same snuff box it was when we lived here?"

He nodded and she walked out of the room. Minerva waited until the door closed back and then looked at Harry, "She is very much like myself when I left the Ministry." She said quietly. "Be sure that she doesn't have the same breakdown I had."

That stunned Harry. "Sorry?"

"When I was about her age, the weight of my time as an Auror hit me. I started having trouble sleeping then all I could do was sleep." She explained, "Andromeda Tonks is a healer, and more to the point she is an escapee of the Black family that she is on good terms with, have her talk to Mrs. Tonks."

"We should go to the bank," Sirius said. Harry broke from his thoughts and left with Sirius and Dumbledore. Remus held back once they were gone, "I didn't know you'd had problems like that, it takes real courage to admit it." He said to the woman.

"I didn't." Minerva admitted, "But she needs help and Harry seems the sort who would push the matter."

Scene Break

At Gringotts, Harry watched as Sirius and Dumbledore spoke with the teller. Dumbledore conversed swiftly in the Goblin tongue, motioning to Sirius and then to Harry as well. Sirius turned to Harry, "He's asking for you to offer proof." He said quietly, "A memory would probably suffice."

Harry nodded. Dumbledore spoke again to the teller before turning back to Harry, "We will meet with the Director in his office." He said as they were lead by the teller from the lobby into the hallway behind the counter.

"What sort of memory?" Harry asked as they walked down the hallway. As they trotted down the hallway behind the teller, Harry heard disgusted guttural muttering from the row after row of portraits. He hadn't known goblins even had portraits, let alone that they could be enchanted.

"A memory of the existence of the Horcruxes." Dumbledore explained, "For example the destruction of the Locket and Diary." Harry nodded, at least Dumbledore didn't think his existence in this time needed to be Gringotts business. He'd already been here once to take back the Peverell account, not telling them at the time might have been a mistake now that they had to go see the Director.

Said Director was at his desk when they arrived. He had two stacks of files on his desk and the Cup sat beside them. "When you arrived the first time Mr. 'Peverell', you could have saved us the trouble of keeping this thing in one of our vaults." He sneered.

"You already got it out?" Harry asked in disbelief.

The Director scoffed, "Of course I did. When the teller sent word to my office about your business here, I had one of our curse-breakers go and inspect the vault. Soul containers are prohibited at Gringotts. We are not in the business of acting as a hotel for up-jumped dark wizards." The Director drew his letter opener from the desk and dipped it into a small vial before stabbing the Cup. "If you would have come with this information in advance we would have drafted you a small reward. As it stands, the reward will be used to cover your part of keeping this item here."

Harry looked confused, "If you were going to inspect the vault anyway, why did we need to give you proof?"

"We want to make sure that you aren't leaving anything else in our vaults like that. Gringotts has no interest in playing hostel to soul fragments brought in without our knowledge." The Director replied, "Are there any more?"

Harry shook his head. The director pulled a small vial from his desk and placed it in front of Harry. "This is a Goblin version of your magical Oaths. Drink it and swear that there are no more of these things here." He smiled nastily, "If you are lying, I can promise it will not be an enjoyable experience."

Harry drank the potion and winced as the sludgy liquid went down his throat. It seemed to pause just before settling in his stomach. Harry swallowed again, forcing the potion all the way down. "I swear that there are no other Horcruxes at Gringotts." He stated. The potion seemed to surge within him before settling.

"Very well. Is there any other business?" The Director asked them, "If there isn't, please see yourselves out."

Scene Break

Padma set the baby Harry down in the living room with the Tonks and a sleeping baby Draco. Narcissa and Andromeda were already sitting with their teacups when she'd arrived. "I don't trust it when Harry is with that group." She said as she poured her cup and sat down between the two witches.

"What has you worried?" Andromeda asked, stirring some sugar into her cup. She sipped the tea and then added another spoonful. "It's not like he's going to start a war with wizards and goblins over a spilled potion."

Padma laughed at that, "No, but he's alone with Remus, Sirius, and Dumbledore. I swear to the Morrigan that if he comes back and tells me he's the Defense Professor for next year I'll get him and make it look like an accident." She finished her thought and then took a jam sandwich.

"If you have to do that," Narcissa said chewing on her own treat, "remember: potions are traceable. It's best to use conjured items and not spells that directly affect the body."

Padma shook her head, "This is why they suspected you of killing Lucius." She said dryly.

"He really shouldn't have fallen down those stairs, accidentally." Narcissa replied smoothly, "If he hadn't been carrying that knife, he might not have been stabbed thirty-seven times, accidentally."

"Of course, the 'accidentally' part didn't need to be said once, let alone twice." Andromeda chimed in, "That said he should have been stabbed forty times."

"Accidentally."

"Of course."

Narcissa sighed, "It might have been forty times, but who's to say? By the time you've hit thirty-three, they all seem to flow together." The women shared a laugh at that as if they were discussing an amusing anecdote involving their children and not the well-deserved murder of Lucius Malfoy.

From her place on the carpet six-year-old Nymphadora Tonks was in heaven. Two babies to play with! James, the dark-haired baby was the more active of the two. So, of course, he was the one she gave the toy broomstick. Draco, her blonde cousin tended to sleep more, she'd noticed.

There was a knock at the door and Tonks raced to the door, "I'll get it!" She yelled as she darted past her mother, aunt, and unofficial 'Auntie Pad'. They heard a loud whoop of excitement from the girl, which told Padma whom exactly had come in.

Sure enough, Harry was led into the living room by the pink-haired six-year-old. "Gringotts has taken care of that one so that just leaves the Ring and the Diadem." He said as he kissed Padma in greeting, "Andromeda, Narcissa." He said to the others nodding.

"Harry."

"Mr. Peverell." Andromeda and Narcissa replied to him. Andromeda indicated the tea service and he took a cup.

"So, when are you going to Hogwarts for the Diadem?" Padma asked him, "I hope that you weren't roped into becoming Defense Professor." Harry didn't answer, instead, he sipped his tea. Padma raised an eyebrow, "I said 'I hope that you weren't roped into becoming Defense Professor'."

"It's really beautiful weather outside," Harry said to Andromeda, "I haven't seen it so-" He was cut off when Padma reached over, pinching his arm hard, drawing him down to her eye level.

"Did. You. Get. Roped. Into. Becoming. Defense. Professor?" She said slowly to her fiancee. "If you did I would suggest that you use the gemino charm on everything we own because I'm taking that house and you can bloody well live in Scotland!"

"No, I didn't." He said finally pulling back so he could rub his arm. "He has someone lined up for this year already."

"So he did ask you?" She replied draining her teacup.

Harry nodded, "Not about that position though. He needs a new Muggle Studies Professor, the current one has had an illness in the family and needs to take some time off." Harry took a step back as he saw her eyes narrowing. He held up his hands, "It would just be for this term. Padma, we need to get into the Room and I have to kill that basilisk while I'm there."

"Wait, what basilisk?" Narcissa asked.

Harry made a dismissive gesture, "There's a basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets. You have to be a parselmouth to get in there. I am one, so I'm going to kill it while I'm there."

"He's 'going to kill it while he's there'." She said lightly mocking the man.

Andromeda smirked, "As one does."

Padma glared at the two sisters, "Not helping." She turned to Harry, "You know I hate that place, why would you say yes?"

Harry sighed, "I need to get into Hogwarts. This was the only way to do it and ensure that Dumbledore wouldn't try to find the Horcrux by himself. The last time he did that he got a withered hand out of the bargain."

"Let him get a withered hand. Let him put the Diadem on and let it eat his brain." Padma said angrily.

Harry reached over and took her hand, "I also did it because if I'm there, I can keep an eye on the students. Snape is there and he's still a jackass, I can guarantee it. Those kids are going to need someone they can talk to if he's giving them a hard time. I'm doing it for them and for their education; do you remember the classes when we went? Hermione said that the biggest achievement in the textbook was that muggles had the 'horseless carriage'."

"One year." She said quietly. "One. And I want you home every weekend. You aren't Head of House, so you don't need to be there all the time." She frowned, "You know I don't like this right?"

He nodded and leaned down to hug her, "I do know that. I'm sorry I didn't discuss it with you."

"This is what happens when you fall in love with a bone-headed Gryffindor," Padma said over Harry's shoulder to Andromeda and Narcissa.

"Look on the bright side," Narcissa said, "You own him for at least the next few months, if not the entirety of his time at Hogwarts."

"That's true. He'll have to make this up to you." Andromeda pointed out, "My suggestion: fancy dinners out."

"Your suggestion is pitiful sister dear, jewelry is the better choice," Narcissa said rolling her eyes at Andromeda.

Padma laughed in spite of her irritation, "The correct answer is that you are both thinking far too small." She broke the embrace and looked into Harry's eyes, "I am prepared to forgive you for not consulting me, but you have to do something important."

"What?" Harry said, "I'll do anything."

"Say I was prettier than Granger at the Yule Ball." She told him.

"You were prettier than Hermione at the Yule Ball."

"Say that you are going to take me shopping at the place Fleur took me in Paris." She said after that.

"I'll take you to that boutique in Paris."

"Good boy. I reserve the right to add extra demands, but for now, you are safe from winding up completely hairless thanks to a painful curse I learned from Daphne." She said and kissed him, "Now, go home and prepare a delicious dinner for me."

"Yes, ma'am," Harry said. He mock saluted and left the house.

Padma turned to the others, "He is an idiot sometimes, but he is my idiot."

As Harry crossed the path from Andromeda's house to theirs he grinned. Padma would be mad for a little while longer regardless of the act she put on, but this would allow him to take her when he went shopping for his new robes. They could go check out a muggle bookstore that Remus had suggested. Remus was very interested in self-help books and was sure that Harry could find something that could help Padma. _It might not be the same book I got her the first time,_ he thought, _but there's got to be something out there..._


	6. Chapter 6

**The Peverell Legacy**

 **A/N: I own nothing, especially not HP. Welcome to another fanfic, Italics are for thoughts and Bold is for spells. Here's chapter six, enjoy!**

 **Chapter Six: Girl's Night Out!**

Padma left Harry feeding his infant self and made her way into the backyard. Vanishing with a crack she reappeared at Malfoy Manor. She knocked on the door and waited.

After a moment, Narcissa Malfoy appeared dressed in a long green robe. In her arms was a squirming Draco who worked his way around to look at Padma. "Everything is in order. Amycus and Alecto are home alone, it's their 'date night'." Narcissa said with a sneer of disgust, "The twins are with another family member, Dobby watched them all day, just as we discussed."

"Good, let's drop Draco off with Harry and collect Andromeda. She'll want to see this herself." Padma told her as she reached out and ruffled baby Malfoy, "Harry is going to love babysitting you." She said with a smile.

"Your man is very good with children from what I've seen. Of course in the case of Nymphadora it hardly counts, she's convinced still that she'll be the one marrying him." Narcissa said before the two went inside to floo over to Andromeda's home.

Andromeda was expecting them of course. "Ladies." She said in greeting as she took Draco into her arms, "Oh you are getting to be a tubby thing aren't you?" She laughed at the scandalized look on her younger sisters face, "Don't pull that face, Cissy, you only have two expressions: smug superiority and cold rage."

"Thirty-seven times dear sister, accidents happen to us all." Narcissa said lightly, "So where is your lesser half?"

"Ted has taken Nymphadora to a bowling alley in Eastbourne. It's an hour away and he took the car, so he'll be out most of the night. He took one look at me when I told him we were planning a 'girls night' and said he wanted to make sure he was far away for liability purposes." Andromeda said and grinned, "Marry a solicitor and you will never lack for loopholes." Andromeda turned around from them and went into the kitchen, returning after a moment with a small black bag. "All the party favors we need are here."

"I love you two." Padma said, "It's like my best friends were never brutally tortured or murdered." Then her face turned dark for a moment, "But they were and now we are going to put some of that pain back onto a deserving couple of incestuous freaks." She let the moment pass. "Right, let me go kiss my men goodnight and then we'll be off."

Harry knew Padma was coming back that after she'd 'rounded up the girls'. He did not however know that meant he would be babysitting the infant version of his nemesis. However faced with not just the future Mrs. Peverell, but the surviving Black sisters, Harry knew better than to grouse. He accepted Draco and the kiss from Padma, as well as her 'Be back later tonight' before setting Draco in the same playpen as his other self.

Harry then turned his attention to the books on his desk. While he was going to Hogwarts in order to destroy the Diadem and the basilisk, he also planned to do some actual good. _And maybe punch Snape right in the beak. Okay, definitely punch him in the beak._ He thought as he made notes for his first class. He paused when he heard the little Harry cry out. Turning, he saw that Draco had pulled the baby Harry's hair. "Merlin's saggy balls, do you have to be a little jackass this young?" He said he picked up Harry and checked the infant for scratches. "I knew I should have went with Ted and Dora, then I could have told them to leave that little ferret with Dobby."

Finding no injuries on the toddler, Harry put him back down and then used his wand to make a barrier between the two boys. "Right, now you two just stay quiet while I work, okay?"

It was not. As if on cue, Draco soiled himself and the baby Harry began to cry loudly. It would be a very long night for the wizard.

Scene Break

The trio of witches arrived at the public apparation point nearest to the Carrow estate in Alnwick, Northumberland. Narcissa looked around for a moment then drew her wand. She cast a spell at the ward boundary. She nodded and turned back to the other witches, "Prepare for them. I know the Carrows through Lucius. They won't call the Aurors, they will be too eager to torture someone trying to break in."

Padma and Andromeda followed her lead as Narcissa cast a concealment charm on herself. Then they waited. It would have been funny, Padma would think later, seeing Alecto Carrow step out of her house dressed in a silk robe and hurriedly fumbling with its belt, if Alecto Carrow hadn't been the woman who had used the torture curse on her sister. Had this been a random Death Eater, she could have laughed. But no, this was the second most hated person in her universe. The only reason Bellatrix Lestrange had won out the top spot from her was because Parvati was still alive whereas Cho had been murdered. Cold fury began to overtake her and Padma felt a roaring that seemed to come from behind her ears as Alecto looked out into the darkness.

She prepared to cast a spell when she was stopped by Andromeda's hand on her forearm. The older woman leaned down and whispered against her ear, "Not yet. If you send a spell through the ward boundary it will rebound at the caster." Andromeda drew her wand and muttered a spell. An explosion rang out on the edge of the boundary and Alecto stepped closer with her wand drawn.

"Who's there? Show yourself!" The witch shouted as she took another step. At the door, Amycus Carrow, dressed in a similar robe peered out. Through the gap in his robes, Padma saw a glimpse of white and red. _He's wearing heart-patterned boxer shorts...Parv, I wish you here so we could both be disgusted._ She thought as he joined his sister in the yard.

Andromeda sent another spell into the bushes and they rustled like someone moving through them. The twins sent out matching stunning spells into the woods. The noise making charm Andromeda used canceled and the two grinned. "Let's go find our new playmate." Amycus said to his twin. They stepped past the boundary and were greeted by three separate stunning spells.

"Very well done." Narcissa said to her sister and her friend. "Let's take them back to the Manor. I have a special room set aside for them. Lucius used to 'entertain' there." She snapped her fingers and with a pop Dobby appeared, "Dobby, please take these two to the dungeon. We will be there momentarily. Make sure they are secured and have their wands placed on the table outside of the cell."

Dobby did as requested and vanished with the pair. Narcissa turned to Andromeda, "We are ready for your part of this."

Andromeda opened her bag and started drawing out stick after stick of dynamite. "Where did you get that?" Padma asked as the pile of sticks grew ever larger.

"Confundus charm at a quarry and then a mild compulsion to ignore me while I took what I needed." She said simply. "Aurors never look at muggle tools, it shows the ignorance of our society I suppose. Now, place the sticks around the edge of the manor."

There would be few sights more beautiful to Padma in the course of her life than seeing the explosions rock the Carrow Manor. Their own wards ensured that no one saw the explosions, or felt the shock wave for that matter. As the manor fell into itself the three witches departed for Malfoy Manor.

Scene Break

When Alecto awoke, she found herself chained to a wall. She could hear the screams of her brother but a partition separated them and so she could not see him. There was a slender witch watching her with a cold stare slowly tapping a wand to her leg as if in thought. "For your sake I hope you enjoyed yourself earlier in the evening. I rather doubt you'll have the chance for an orgasm tonight." She said with a little smile as she opened the door.

"Who are you? Where are we?" Alecto said heatedly moving against the chains holding her, "You'd best release us or-"

"Or you'll kill me in various unspeakable ways, trust me I've heard it all before." The woman said waving her hand dismissively. "Amycus tried that same line on me. Then I took his spine out. I didn't know you could accio a spinal column, but if you try hard you can do just about anything." She laughed softly, "We are regrowing it now. I don't want him dead, well not just yet."

"Then what do you want?" Alecto asked her, a cold terror seeping into her core, though she did her best not to let it show. "Money? Names?"

"Let's start with names. Why don't you have a seat..." The witch before her waved her wand and the chains released. Alecto was able to take stock in the room she was in now. The cell was bare except for a small desk. Upon it was a stack of blank parchment and a single black quill. "You are going to write down the name of every Death Eater you know, living or dead, free or in Azkaban. You are going to write down every single crime you've committed or witnessed; every murder, every torture, every time your brother took a piss on the vicarage wall."

"And if I don't?" Alecto said with more bravery than she felt.

The witch laughed, "Then I'll see if I can summon your spinal column out as well. I only need one of you alive and dear Amycus has already promised to do anything I want if I make the hurting stop."

Alecto sank into the chair at the desk. She picked up the quill, "There's no ink." She said looking at the woman who had conjured herself a chair and sat before the cell, watching eagerly.

"You won't need ink. This is a very special quill. Along with the parchment which has been charmed to prevent lies. I've spent quite a bit of time and money making sure that you can't wriggle your flat ass out of this." She said with a smile, "Now get to writing."

Alecto put the quill on the paper and began to write. She felt a stinging on her hand, looking at the back of it, Alecto noticed a faint scratching appearing on her hand. "I love blood quills, don't you?" Her tormentor said cheerfully, "Did you know that when using a blood quill everything you write can be considered binding? It's true. Everything you write will be considered a legal confession. That is why I made sure to get the paper charmed against lies."

Alecto knew what this was: she was writing her own death warrant. But life in Azkaban scared her less than the torture the brown-skinned witch had promised her. Ignoring the pain, she continued to write.

Padma stifled a laugh. The compulsion charms on the desk and the chair would keep her writing until she was out of crimes. She rose and walked past the magical barrier to Amycus. He was awake now, and all he could hear was his sisters tortured screams. "I see you are awake, let me tell you what I want from you Amycus..."

Padma came upstairs an hour later holding a stack of papers and a triumphant smile. "You did a wonderful job on the charms, Cissy. Those two inbred assholes wrote everything. I've stunned them and when you're ready we can send them to Amelia."

Narcissa handed Padma a glass of wine, "You are aware that what you hold in your hands makes you the most dangerous woman in Britain at the moment? You have the names and dates needed to put a lot of people away."

"Or through the Veil," Andromeda said from her seat. "The Ministry would probably bury this in order to prevent some pure-blood muckety muck from getting embarrassed by being taken in for muggle-baiting."

Padma nodded, "That's why I'm not taking it to the Ministry. I'm taking it to Skeeter." She noticed the raised eyebrows of the sisters before her and laughed, "I have something that Rita Skeeter would do anything to keep from getting out."

"And what prevents her from obliviating you?" Narcissa asked simply.

Padma smirked, "I'm smarter than her, I'm more devious, and if worse comes to worst, I can put it on Amelia's desk and let her sort it out on her own." With that, the trio finished their wine and departed for Padma and Harry's home.

They walked into a war zone. Harry looked exhausted as he bounced Draco on his knee. A very telling stain down the boy's front showed why he was being held. The little Harry was screaming from the playpen, obviously angry that Harry was holding the other boy. Padma took in her fiancee's dead-eyed stare and stifled a laugh, "So, how was the boy's night in?" She asked as she took the baby Harry into her arms and cuddled him.

"Kill me please." Harry said haggardly, "Kill me or at the very least obliviate me of the last few hours."

Padma kissed his cheek and moved so Narcissa could take her son. Narcissa looked at Draco, "My son seems to have been sick. What did you do?" She asked Harry.

Harry's only response was to groan and shakily stand. He staggered upstairs, ignoring the witches who were now openly laughing at his pain.

Harry was in the shower, letting the hot water wash away the memories of toddler vomit and shame. His eyes were closed and he didn't know Padma was in the shower with him until he felt her hands go around his waist. She pressed her chest against his back and kissed his neck. "Thank you." She said against his neck.

"For what? Letting the ferret sick on me?" He asked, still not opening his eyes. He felt her laugh against him and squeeze tightly.

"No, you idiot. You knew what I was planning, you didn't try to stop me. You didn't try to keep me from getting justice for Parvati." She replied to him.

"Of course I didn't. Your sister deserves this. Just like Cho deserved justice." He told her, turning so that they were face to face. Then he opened his eyes, "I love you, as violent and quasi-insane as you are sometimes, you are still my best friend and the woman I love."

"Very romantic, Mr. Potter."

"Peverell."

"Shut up."


	7. Chapter 7

**The Peverell Legacy**

 **A/N: I own nothing, especially not HP. Welcome to another fanfic, Italics are for thoughts and Bold is for spells. Here's chapter seven, enjoy!**

 **Chapter Seven: In which Rita Skeeter is played like a dime store fiddle**

Rita Skeeter had been very surprised when she received an invitation to a luncheon at the home of Narcissa Malfoy. The reporter had arrived at the home of the witch widely considered the murderess of her husband to find Narcissa and her sister Andromeda waiting for her with a witch she'd never seen before. "Ah, Rita Skeeter, the greatest propagandist the Daily Prophet has ever had. So nice to meet you." The young woman said though the smile on her lips did not meet her eyes.

"My fame precedes me, I see." Rita gave a tight lipped smile in return, "So, who is the well-informed woman before me?" She looked at the other women for a moment then turned her attention back to the stranger, "You must be well-connected as well, friends with the Lady Malfoy and her wayward sister, I am fascinated."

"My name isn't important, what is important is that I have something you will find fascinating." The woman said, leading Rita into the Manor, "I'm sure you've heard about the unfortunate disappearance of the Carrows?"

"I have." Rita said, "Two well-connected and wealthy members of a powerful family, a family that has a rumored predisposition for each other over non-related lovers." She allowed herself a small smile, "Whatever would they have to do with this little get-together?"

"Very simply, I have a gift for you; their signed confessions. Every wanton misdeed going back to the Dark Lord and beyond." The woman guided Rita to the parlor and there, sitting on the table, was a stack of parchment. "Alecto's confession is on the top, then there is a marker between the end of hers and the beginning of her brothers."

Rita's eyebrow raised, "And how did you get those?" Curiosity over took the reporter and she picked up the papers, noting with distaste the dark red scrawl. "This is written in blood, isn't it?" When the woman grinned in place of an answer Rita held in her shudder. "Tell me, why didn't Madam Bones receive this?"

"Amelia has a less...red copy." Narcissa Malfoy told her, "However she is concerned that the blood status of the culprits would allow them to get out of their just rewards."

Rita looked over the confessions, sitting down as she pored over it. This was, easily, the biggest scoop she'd ever been given. But it was also, easily, the most dangerous thing she'd ever been given. "I can't print this, if I did I wouldn't live to collect the paycheck."

"I'm terribly sorry, but I don't remember asking if you could do it." The woman said to Rita, "I expect this to be printed in tomorrows edition." She looked away from Rita to the others, "I didn't accidentally ask her permission did I?"

"Not that I am aware of." Andromeda replied

Narcissa pretended to think, "You did not."

She smiled, "I didn't think I did. Now Rita, you will print this and I have three very good reasons as to why you will do it." Rita watched as the woman held up a finger, "The first reason is that you know you want to pin those slimy bastards to the wall." A second finger came up, "You know the things in those confessions, even if you don't print them someone will and then you are still a target, only you are a target without the benefit of our protection."

"And the third?" Rita asked watching as the woman's smile grew slightly larger.

"Eric Dross."

Rita felt that name strike her like an actual blow across the face. She hadn't thought of that name in decades, "How do you know that name?" She demanded, rising and bringing her wand up. Three wands were pointed at her and slowly she set her wand down.

"Eric Dross, class of '65. A Ravenclaw who vanished around 1969." The woman continued, "You were the same year and House weren't you?" At Rita's stunned look, she continued, "His body was never found, it was as if he just stopped existing.

"I-if I do this?" Rita began, the color gone from her face, "If I do what you want-"

"Then you will be protected, you will be famous, and Eric Dross' file will vanish once more." She looked at Rita, "You give your Oath to publish the confession and not to reveal your sources and I will give my own Oath to destroy the copies I have of those records and never tell a soul about them."

"How did you even find the school records?" Rita asked as she sank back into her chair.

She shrugged, "You hid them well, placing them in the list of students that were expelled. However all records at the Ministry are subject to inspection."

Rita had her answer then, "You're an Unspeakable. But that's impossible."

"I was, I may even become one again." She shrugged in a way that infuriated Rita, "All you need to know about me is that I'm dedicated to make sure that the Death Eaters and their master never darken our world again."

Rita had no argument left. The respective oaths were given and Rita left with a copy of the confessions. After she left Padma looked at the master copies she had. "The silly bitch didn't even bother trying to read my mind and I know she's a practicing legilimens."

Andromeda smirked, "She did, she tried to read mine. I believe she thought that you seeming to have all the cards, Cissy being the clever bitch she is- no offense sister."

"None taken."

"Cissy being the clever bitch she is that she would be prepared, but then there was poor simple Andromeda Tonks, the cast off Black sister. She tried rooting through my mindscape and got nothing but images of Nymphadora's finger paintings." Andromeda said with a laugh, "She went through a period where all her drawings looked like they could be mistaken for blood spatter."

Padma joined the sisters in laughter, "On that lovely note I have a man and a child to go see."

"You mean a man-child and a child, don't you?" Narcissa asked with a wry grin.

"Something like that." Padma said before vanishing with a soft crack. She arrived in the backyard of their home and stepped inside. It was the picture of domestic bliss, if the homemaker in question had a very strange idea about the words 'domestic' and 'bliss'. Harry had his younger self and Tonks tonight, all night in fact as Andromeda and Ted were going to celebrate Ted winning a case. Harry was going over his notes for the lesson and doing his best not to laugh at the antics of Tonks.

She'd put the baby Harry in a dress and put him inside a toy pram, she was currently engaged in pushing him around. Padma alerted Harry to her presence by laughing behind him, "You aren't going to let him forget this are you?"

Harry laughed and pulled her into his lap, "Of course I'm not. I've been memorizing it so that later when they are dating I can bring this up." Padma giggled and kissed him.

"That's rather devious of you Professor Peverell," Padma said laughing, "I wish we had a camera. But I suppose a memory will work just as well."

Much later, after the children were put to sleep, Harry and Padma were able to talk about the day. "So, she gave the oath?" Harry asked as Padma sat on the chair in front of her vanity applying lotion to her legs.

"She did. Apparently the cow tried to read Andi's mind. Luckily our friends are very powerful witches and all she got to see was the rather disturbing paintings from Tonks' early period." Padma told him as she ran her hands over her legs. She noted the interest with which Harry was paying attention to her nightly ritual and grinned, "Would you care to help me hit a hard-to-reach spot?" She asked as she stood and walked over to the bed, she placed her foot on the edge of the bed, putting her calf at his eye level.

"It's hardly a difficult to reach spot, but I will never turn down a chance to touch the woman I love." Harry said as his hands traced her calf and then up past her knee. Padma stifled a groan as Harry's hand traveled slightly higher, fingertips brushing the edge of her knickers. Or they would, had said garment been worn.

It was then that the bedroom door opened. Padma gave a very undignified squawk as she fell forward trying to cover herself and landed hard on Harry's waist. Tonks stood at the doorway, "Jamie was sick on his bed." She told them solemnly, holding the baby in her arms.

"We'll be right there." Came Harry's voice from above Padma, "Dora, will you take James to the bathroom and take his shirt off? I'll bring a clean shirt while Auntie Pad cleans the crib." The little girl nodded and once again they were alone. "There is no birth control as powerful as children," Harry muttered as they rose from the bed.

Padma grabbed her dressing gown, covering the much shorter silk robe she usually work to bed, "Makes you wonder how the Weasleys do it. So, what did you feed him to make him sick?" She asked as she grabbed her wand from the nightstand.

"Hanged if I know love, it was the same food as always. Sometimes kids get sick at night, it just happens." Harry had been wearing his flannel pajama bottoms so he needed only to grab his wand, "One good thing, while you've been out making sure that I don't have to fight more than absolutely needed I've had the time to read a few of the books Ted recommended about being a new father."

She smiled at that as they stepped into the nursery. Harry hadn't been the most stable person during the years after the war. He had worked a few years as an Auror before a few strong words from Hermione and Luna had convinced him to retire. Their mission, the one that had brought them together as a couple had in fact been one of his last. Neither of them were particularly well-adjusted and she knew that. Padma was ruthless now, unwilling to give any known threat a chance to make anyone else hurt the way her sister did.

For Harry though, she supposed it had been the strain of an abusive family, then seven years of someone trying to kill him, followed by his time as an Auror where any wannabe Dark Lord went after him in order to make a name for themselves that had led him to where he was now. Harry didn't want to fight anyone he didn't have to. In fact, she knew that once the last Horcruxes were dealt with and Riddle was finally permanently defeated, he would probably never raise his wand for anything except self-defense ever again.

That was fine. He deserved the peace and she would leave the entire world, as her friend and former colleague Millicent Bulstrode had termed it 'ankle deep in blood, head first' if it meant that her man got that peace.

Harry selected a new top and left to bring it to the bathroom. Padma looked at the crib, thankfully it wasn't as bad as she had feared. A simple cleaning charm had left the bed dry and a modified breath freshening charm removed the sour smell from the mattress.

Harry came back carrying his younger self, now sleeping once more, in one hand while holding the hand of Tonks with the other. "All better." He said quietly as he placed the baby in the crib. Tonks went back to the bright purple sleeping bag she had brought from home and slipped into it.

"G'night Harry! G'night Aunt Pad!" Tonks said as she settled back in the bag.

Harry and Padma returned the sentiment. Padma stopped long enough to kiss the sleeping baby on the head before she and Harry returned to their bedroom. "I wonder why I'm not 'Uncle Harry'." He mused as he slipped into bed.

"Because she's calling me 'Aunt' to re-enforce the fact that she thinks I'm an old lady," Padma said, shedding both her dressing gown and then slid in beside him. "You might be reading books on being a good dad, but I've been a woman far longer than you'll have been a father. She's a sneaky one." Padma laughed softly and snuggled up to him, "But so am I."

"Trust me, I know how sneaky you are. I remember when Ginny found out where you were holding your hen party." Harry laughed, that had been a fight to remember. Ginny Weasley had left the nightclub swiftly as a trio of bowel-loosening charms, slug vomiting hexes, and a hair removal jinx courtesy of Hermione, Padma, and Luna respectively had made the fact that she wasn't welcome clear. That had been the same night that Ron had proposed to Hermione, having heard what had happened from his sister and being told by his mother that he had to choose between his family and his girlfriend. He'd chosen Hermione and Harry hoped they were happy in their old timeline if indeed that timeline existed.

"She didn't find out, I made sure she knew it," Padma explained. She leaned against him and looked up, "She knew we were dating and hated it. She hated me for 'stealing' you, even though you two had already broken up. I got so many howlers from Molly that I had to set my owl-mail to go to a banishing box." Padma yawned softly before continuing, "But I wasn't going to let them treat our relationship like this. Luna 'dropped' her invite 'accidentally' after a visit with Ginny and lo and behold, who would show up at my private party but that miserable harpy-in-training."

"She wasn't that bad at Hogwarts." Harry said, "What made her go from that Ginny to the one who nearly lost her face when she insulted Parvati?"

"Jealousy." Padma said softly as she began to doze beside him, "She wanted me to do all the work of helping your night terrors and then she would come in and steal my place. But when you didn't look at her like you looked at me, she got mad."

Conversation stilled as the two fell asleep together.

The next day Harry had to report to Hogwarts to meet with the Muggle Studies Professor and take over the class. Padma was glum as she watched him triple-check his satchel once Tonks had been given back to her mother.

"Remember what I said before; if they offer you the DADA position I will murder you. We both know that I can make it look like an accident or a suicide." She told him as she took a bit of her apple. "Just teach the class, kill the basilisk, get the Diadem, and then come back this summer without gainful employment at Hogwarts."

"I'm going to be home tonight, I have an office and that's it. Dumbledore didn't even bother offering me quarters." Harry said as he went to the coat rack for his cloak. "You two will be fine until I get back at six right?"

"Of course we will." She said, "The Prophet will have those names coming out today so Amelia will be busily collecting stray Death Eaters. Andi, Cissy, and I will be staying quietly at home. No one needs to know our part in all of this."

"Thanks to the oath she gave, Rita can't tell anyone who gave her the information." Harry said, "But Amelia knows she has it and will take steps to ensure her safety."

"She'll try. Honestly, if the bitch dies, she dies." Padma shrugged and turned to pour another cup of coffee. "I stopped giving a toss about her life once I got her to give the oath."

"Padma, we are supposed to be better than the people we are trying to stop."

"I'm much better than them. I haven't killed a single person who didn't deserve it. I killed Lestrange and that was all. She took Cho from me, so I took her life from her. I didn't kill the Carrows. They were hurt, but they are still breathing." Padma looked over the rim of her mug, "If she comes to Andi or Cissy and needs help then I suppose I can whip something up for her. Will that please his majesty?"

Harry ignored the slightly mocking tone and shook his head, "I just worry about you. That's all. You matter to me far more than settling scores with Riddle. I want you, and our baby inside you, to be safe."

"We'll be safest if every Death Eater is in jail or the ground," Padma said. She sighed and walked over to him, "I get it. I do. I understand that you worry about me. Same as I worry about you. It's almost over."

It was and he knew that. The last Horcrux would be easy to deal with. As for the wraith form of Riddle, they knew whereabouts he had been found by Quirrell, so it was just a matter of waiting for the right word to reach their ears about mysterious animal activity in Albania.

He kissed her, "I'll be home tonight. I love you very much." Harry told her as he gave her a hug. She returned it tightly.

"Just come home and don't let Trelawney grope your ass. She's drunk on her cooking sherry nearly all day if the smell from her classroom was anything to go by. From what I heard out of Horace she's a handsy drunk." Padma said, earning a smile from her man, "I love you too."

Once Harry had left Padma waited for the paper-owl to arrive. She smiled as she looked at the headline, **_'DEATH EATERS CONFESS ALL!'_**. _Skeeter does good work_... Padma thought as she began to read the article. _It's going to be a rough day for the 'fine folks' on this list..._

The baby cried, earning her attention, it was time for him to face the world with a clean nappie and a fresh bottle. _There won't be a nappie big enough for Bagnold's ass when she gets thrown out for taking bribes._ She thought with a laugh as she went up to the nursery.


	8. Chapter 8

**The Peverell Legacy**

 **A/N: I own nothing, especially not HP. Welcome to another fanfic, Italics are for thoughts and Bold is for spells. Here's chapter eight, enjoy! As a side note: Happy thirty-fifth birthday to me. It feels just like being thirty-four, except I'm slightly more sore.**

 **Chapter Eight: Professor Peverell meets his nemesis**

Harry was glad to be back at Hogwarts. Scratch that, he was thrilled. The castle looked exactly as it had when he was a nervous eleven-year-old. He was greeted by Professor McGonagall at the door and led to the Headmasters office. "The Headmaster would like to deal with the Diadem first and then see you to your office." She explained as the gargoyle moved with a quick "Lemon Drops!" McGonagall turned to face Harry, "Good luck tonight Potter, try not to do anything that will kill you." With that and an almost Snape-like swish of the hem of her robes, the Deputy Headmistress walked away.

"Ah Professor Peverell, right on time!" Dumbledore said merrily as if they were merely having a staff meeting and not about to destroy the next-to-last soul anchor created by Voldemort. Harry wasn't sure of what to do with the Horcrux inside his younger self, but that was something that they would ample time to deal with.

After the Diadem, all that was left was the Ring, Harry, and the wraith form of Voldemort himself. Padma had suggested letting Quirrell get possessed and then kill them both. He had relented when she pointed out that Quirrell had willingly gotten possessed the first time around. With the Diary destroyed he knew that the basilisk wasn't a threat unless another parselmouth wizard or witch came to Hogwarts, but he wasn't willing to risk that. So as soon as possible, while he was here, they would bring a rooster to the Chamber and deal with the basilisk.

"Are you ready sir?" Harry asked, "We need to do this and then look over what I need to know about my first class on Monday. Padma has made it very clear that I'm supposed to come home each night."

"Of course, the Diadem of Rowena Ravenclaw is a treasure we haven't seen in centuries, I am absolutely thrilled to see it in person." Dumbledore said as he stood up, "So it's been hiding this whole time at Hogwarts? Tom is a very evil man, but he was always very clever. I often wondered what would have happened if he'd turned his mind towards helping his fellow man."

"Don't know and I don't care. He didn't and there's no sense in pretending that we can change that fact." Harry replied as the two men left the office. "I'm sorry sir, I know that you are a big proponent of forgiving your enemies but I have a fiance, a baby at home, and another on the way. I don't have the time, patience, or disposition for forgiving people who would happily murder someone over something as stupid as blood status."

"I understand that I do-"

"No sir, I don't think you do." Harry said as they made their way up the stairs, "You haven't seen the bodies that decision left. You didn't have to bury the parents of your godson, you didn't have to try and keep his grandmother from overdosing on dreamless sleep potions." Harry took in a breath to calm himself, was this how Padma felt all the time? If so it truly explained her enjoyment of slapping people.

Harry had spent months after the war barely able to function. Friends, the closest thing he'd had to actual family, nearly everyone close to him had died and if it hadn't been for Hermione moving into Grimmauld Place in order to keep an eye on him, he probably would have ended up joining them. Hermione had spent her summer before going back to Hogwarts forcing him to stay a part of society. Teddy had helped as well, by virtue of the fact that Harry knew he and Andromeda needed him.

Then he met Padma again and the color started to come back into his world.

Finally, they arrived at the tapestry. Harry paced in front of it while thinking about a place to hide things and the door appeared. "I found it without knowing what it was when I put a textbook in here. Tom had a weird sense of humor. Instead of putting it inside a locked box, he just put it on-" Harry stopped and pointed his wand, drawing Dumbledore's attention, "that bust."

Dumbledore's eyebrows rose in shock, "The Diadem...the things we could do with this if it was cleansed of Voldemort's soul fragment." Almost reverently he raised his hand as if to touch the cursed item.

Harry pushed his hand back, "Padma wouldn't mind watching you die from the Diadem eating your brain, but I don't think you want to do that sir." He warned, "A good rule of thumb is to avoid touching cursed items after all."

Dumbledore looked like a very old and long-bearded child being scolded for trying to get into the candy bowl, Harry noted with a well-hidden chuckle. "I'll take the soul out of it and then if you want to study the curse to see if it can be removed, feel free."

One well-aimed Killing Curse later, the Diadem was inert as far as Harry could tell. "You know after this was destroyed in my time the jinx on the Defense Position was removed. Hopefully with this destroyed now you can have a better Professor than the ones I had." He said as he watched Dumbledore carefully levitate the Diadem into a small dragonhide bag he'd been carrying in his pocket.

"We can go after the Ring after I've had a chance to study this. Perhaps during the Christmas holiday?" Dumbledore said as the two walked back out and the room closed up behind them.

"Padma would skin me, tan my hide into leather, and use it to upholster the chair in our study if I left our house at Christmas. We need to do it before that." Harry replied as they turned and went down the stairs. They didn't go to the Headmasters office, instead, they went to the Muggle Studies classroom. "Is Quirrell the professor yet? You only told me that the current professor needed some time off." He looked around the classroom where various bits of muggle technology sat in glass cases. "If he isn't, I'd get Charity Burbage on the floo. She was a good teacher and was murdered for it, he was a shit teacher and let Voldemort wear him like a suit."

"Miss Burbage is on my radar, to borrow a muggle phrase, and one that I might add is especially apropos given where we are." Dumbledore said with a small chuckle, "However, she is currently completing her studies at Oxford and won't be in the magical world for some time yet. She was the first student I've ever met to have a perfect score on her N.E.W.T. for Muggle Studies."

Hermione had been fond of Professor Burbage and when she was murdered it had hurt his friend terribly. Harry knew she was passionate about this subject, especially now that he knew she'd gotten a perfect score on her N.E.W.T.

"This classroom will be your domain to do as you see fit for the next three months. The third-years are your first class Monday morning, I believe it is a relatively even mix of three of our four Houses, Slytherin students rarely choose this elective." Dumbledore explained as Harry looked at the textbooks on the desk. "May I ask what you will start with?"

"First I plan on bringing the students into the current decade as far as muggle technology goes. No talk about 'horseless carriages' and 'black powder rifles'. I'm going to tell them about the moon landing and the atomic bomb." Harry said pulling some books from the mokeskin pouch. "After that, we will need something a bit lighter, so I will talk to them about board games, cartoons, stuff like that. I'll use the projector Snape had when he taught Defense for a day in my third year and show them some cartoon characters the half-blood students should know."

As he and Dumbledore discussed his lesson plans, his fiance was meeting with someone in order to prevent a terrible accident. Padma had gone to the Rookery to fulfill a request Luna had made of her before she'd left. She knocked on the door and waited for it to open.

Pandora Lovegood didn't know what to expect when she heard the knock on her door. Coming from her lab, she raised the bright purple goggles she had been wearing and smoothed down her dragonhide apron. She opened the door and found a young woman in stylish robes, holding a dark-haired baby standing at the door. "May I help you?" Pandora asked the stranger in front of her.

"Mrs. Lovegood?" She asked, "Of course you are, you look just like her." The woman said quietly, "My name is Padma, this is my- well, this is Harry Potter and I'm from the future. Your daughter Luna helped me get back here in order to find my fiance." She reached into her robes and pulled out an envelope, "This is a letter she asked me to bring you."

Pandora raised an eyebrow but took the envelope. After checking it for spells she opened it finding a letter written to her from Luna Lovegood. Reading over it she felt a deep pit growing in her stomach. "I died?"

"It nearly destroyed her. She grew up with Xeno. He's a good man, he loved her, but he's nearly helpless." Padma said, "Luna was in my House, a year behind me. She was bullied by some of the others so I and my friend Cho Chang started keeping an eye on her. Around that same time, she started hanging around with my fiance Harry Potter."

"But you said-"

"This is Harry Potter and the adult Harry Potter is my fiance, we are raising him in order to keep him from having the childhood that made my man the way he is." Padma said, "Anyway, that's not the important part..." Padma continued to give a shortened explanation of Pandora's daughter in the future. "After the war, she went into research herself. Tried to fix the spell that killed you. It didn't go well then either. She figured out why: the spell is flawed at a fundamental level. It will never work."

"She mentioned that." Pandora said looking at the letter, "Damn, I thought I had this worked out. I've been playing with this experiment since my fifth year."

"That's the problem. You've been _playing_ with it. Luna- wait," Padma stopped, her face wrinkled in confusion, "How are you this okay with finding out that I'm from the future and your daughter asked me to make sure you don't kill yourself when she's nine?"

"For starters, she used a sheet of paper from the Quibblers press for her letter. That's kept locked in the office here and the lock is blood sensitive." Pandora said turning the paper over and showing Padma, "Next is that fact that she mentions my nickname for Xeno. Finally, she mentioned that I named her after my mother. I've always said I wanted to do that."

"So you'll stop this experiment?" Padma asked her. She really hoped so, she didn't want Luna to lose her mother again. Especially not now when Pandora knew the spell wouldn't work. Luna always said her mother was smart, so she had hope, but that hope was also mitigated by the fact that it was Luna who said this. Luna Lovegood was one of the most brilliant minds Padma had ever met, but she and common sense had never been especially close friends.

"For her sake, I will not work on this one. Besides, I have so many other fun spells to work on." Pandora grinned and then grabbed Padma's hand pulling her inside fast enough that Padma made an audible sound of surprise. "I can't wait to show you this one!"

 _Fuck me sideways, she's as bad as Luna..._ Padma thought as she was led further into the house. Pandora, like her daughter, showed no concern for the fact that she'd just met a new person and was showing them confidential research. What mattered was she had a new person to show it to.

It would be a long day for Padma.

It was a long day for Harry. He was introduced to the other professors by Dumbledore leading him to each office, despite the man knowing full well that Harry knew where he was going. _It's like he is intentionally annoying me for not wanting to go on his little adventure at Christmas. Well, excuse me for actually having family that I haven't completely alienated._

It had been alright so far. He'd met Professors Sinestra and Vector as they were having a discussion about some of the more challenging students this year. They had been polite, though a paranoid part of him thought that Professor Vector had become slightly less polite upon learning he had a child, a fiancee, and a child on the way.

Professor Flitwick was always fun, Harry had thought as he met the professor that had been one of his favorites the first time around.

Sadly shaking Flitwick's hand signaled the end of the good times for the day. Up next was Snape. The man that, besides the now incarcerated Wormtail, was the most responsible for his parent's deaths. A young Snape, Harry found, was no less obnoxious than the middle-aged one he'd known. But there was one thing about the meeting that had been fun.

When Harry walked in with Dumbledore, Snape nearly dropped the vial he was pouring Doxy saliva out of. He'd been told often how much he looked like his father and seeing the shock, and a healthy dose of horror, in the eyes of his least favorite instructor was almost worth having to be in the same room as him.

"Severus, I would like to introduce you to our interim Muggle Studies Professor, Harry Peverell," Dumbledore said, completely ignoring the look of dread on both men's faces. "Professor Peverell will be with us during class hours for the next few months. I hope you will do your best to make him feel at home."

Harry wasn't shocked when both he and Snape grimaced at the same time.

Dumbledore continued, "Severus is a prodigy with potions," he said, rather unnecessarily to Harry, "I've never met anyone as skilled as he is with the art."

"I heard from meeting Horace Slughorn that Lily Potter had been a prodigy in her time as well. If she hadn't been betrayed and murdered, I wonder if she would have taught Potions." Harry said, enjoying the wince on the face of Snape and the flicker of discomfort on Dumbledore's face, "My family is related to the Potters, their son is staying with me now."

"I see." Snape practically spat.

Now Harry was in a more comfortable mental place. Tormenting Snape had been harder as a student, but it had been worth it whenever he could do it. Now he was in the position of being able to annoy the man without worrying about detentions or House Point deductions.

"Yes well, perhaps we should continue the tour Harry, lots more to see after all." Dumbledore said with false cheer as he led the younger man out of the Potions Lab. Once they were on the other side of the door he looked at Harry, "Is there a reason you deliberately antagonized Severus?"

"Family tradition?" Harry said with a lazy shrug, "The man did tell Voldemort the prophecy that got my parents killed and Neville's cursed to the point that death would be preferable. After that is the fact that he plays favorites, punishes every House except his, and is a generally unlikeable ass. Plus I haven't had a snack in a while and I get grumpy when I'm hungry." Turning on his heel Harry walked to the kitchen, "Ooh snacks."

Dumbledore got the message better than Harry thought he would, _I'm done being paraded, now leave me alone._ The Headmaster walked off, allowing Harry to enjoy what the House Elves would consider a small snack but nearly everyone else would consider a feast.

When he went home that evening he found Padma in the position she normally found him. Padma was, to use the best word Harry could think of, frazzled. Her hair was slightly out of place, making it look as if she had been in a wind tunnel. "So, how was your day?" He asked as he sat down at the kitchen table.

"Pandora Lovegood isn't going to work on that spell. Luna's mother is safe, as much as she can be. I seem to have become her best friend, or at least she wants to pick my brain about the future." Padma said rubbing her temples. "After finally breaking free from her I went to see Narcissa. She wants to introduce us to the Parkinsons. We had so much fun with Pug-nose Pansy the first time."

"Well, you'll be happy to know that I managed to annoy Dumbledore enough today that I doubt I will be asked to come back and teach anything after this year," Harry said, drawing her into his lap. He winced at the smell from her hair, "Were you on fire earlier?"

"Shite, I thought I got that stink out of my hair." Padma groaned in annoyance, "Pandora just had to show me that stupid printing press. Frigging thing overheated. Apparently, it's as big a junk-heap now as it was when it caught the Rookery on fire last year- er- you know what I mean!"

Harry should have left well enough alone, but he laughed at her annoyance and for it earned an elbow in the gut. "I am having a very annoying day. I stink, I have a headache, and I think my feet are starting to swell in the evenings." Padma said irritably.

Harry kissed her, "In that case, why don't you put on your fuzzy slippers and go sit down in the living room. I'll order some takeaway and we'll have a nice quiet night in. How does that sound?" He asked her.

As in on cue the baby Harry began to cry upstairs. "I'll handle it." Harry said, shifting her and standing up, "You put on those fuzzy slippers and order something for the both of us."

Later, as she thumbed through the menu for _Gandhi Tandoor_ , the restaurant she found that she liked the best, Padma smiled in spite of her smoky hair and the dull throb at her temple. Life wasn't perfect, but by the time their children were ready to start their own time at Hogwarts, it would be much safer for them. _Maybe Harry can go an entire year at school without nearly dying..._ She thought as that smile turned into a chuckle.


	9. Chapter 9

**The Peverell Legacy**

 **A/N: I own nothing, especially not HP. Welcome to another fanfic, Italics are for thoughts and Bold is for spells. Here's chapter nine, enjoy!**

 **Chapter Nine: The first class since all the other ones**

Padma and Harry returned home from their dinner with Narcissa and the Parkinson family. Padma grumbled as she put her cloak on the rack by the door. "I hated Pansy when we grew up together, I hate Regina and Malcolm Parkinson now, keep that little pug-face away from our kids." She growled to Harry, "I'm going upstairs for a very long and very hot shower to scrub all of the bitch I contracted from being in the same room as that harpy."

She stomped upstairs and left Harry to walk next door and pick up the little Harry. His infant counterpart was at the exploring stage now and Harry sent up a silent prayer of thanks to the heavens for cushioning charms. Keeping one on his outfits meant that when the little boy took tottering steps in his nursery they didn't have to worry so much when he fell back on his bottom. Harry crossed the grass between the houses and knocked on the door. He smiled as he heard the hurried footsteps that signaled the littlest Tonks was at the door. Tonks flung the door open and smiled when she saw him, "Harry!" she cried and flung her arms around him in a hug.

"Hello Dora, how was James?" Harry asked as she finally released him from her iron grip.

She laughed, her hair going pink and then purple, "He called me by my name!" She said proudly, "We were in my room and I told him to call me 'Dora' and he did!" She was very excited as she tugged his hand and led him into the house.

Andromeda sat on the couch holding the baby on her lap, "He made a noise that could have been 'Dor' and she got very excited. I don't quite think it was her name though." She stroked his hair, "He's a very quiet little one. Must get that from you." She said looking over the toddlers head to Harry. She grinned at him, they wouldn't tell her daughter the truth until she was an adult, possibly ever.

"Were you quiet when you were a baby Harry?" Tonks asked him, releasing his hand but not moving from his side, "James' very quiet, were you?" She spoke quickly, very excitedly and Harry did his best to process the question.

"I- well I suppose I must have been." Harry said rubbing his neck, "I don't really have anyone I could ask but if James is quiet then I probably was. Padma is loud enough for both of us." He said with a grin.

"I'll tell her that." Andromeda said with a deadpan expression, "She'll probably find that very amusing."

Harry paled and walked over, scooping the sixteen-month-old into his arms and off of her lap. Andromeda smirked as Harry made a very quick escape at that.

Scene Break

Padma walked into the nursery after her shower. She found Harry having a very in-depth conversation with his younger self as she walked in. "Seriously, how do you produce these smells?" Harry muttered as he began to clean the little boy, "You need to be the fastest potty-trained little boy ever."

"Nothing he will ever produce will ever top the smells you made that night in Athens. Greengrass told you that ouzo was too strong for you." Padma said with a laugh as she cast a wandless freshening charm on the room. That night had been an interesting one, Daphne Greengrass had left the magical world after her sister's marriage and went to a muggle modeling company. Having kept some contact with Padma she had invited the couple to a party her company was holding.

That night of drinking and partying had resulted in their first threesome as a couple. 'An enjoyable one-off' Padma had termed their night with Daphne. Their time together hadn't meant anything beyond that. Though Daphne did make several overtures towards them regarding visiting her in Hawaii during the summer.

"So, your first class is in the morning." Padma said to him coming up to put her arms around him, "Want to find a Hogwarts uniform and see if I can still fit into it?" She teased him quietly, "Professor Peverell...I'm having trouble with my essay." Padma's voice was soft and teasingly innocent, "I just can't get my head around this." She smiled into his shoulder at the undignified squeak when her hands touched the 'this' she meant.

"I am literally cleaning a child, keep it in your pants." He said after a moment. "At least let me finish what I'm doing."

She giggled and kissed his neck, "I was stuck with the Parkinson's today. You know that if they ever figure out that little man here is actually Harry Potter they are going to do everything in their power to convince if not me, then you, that he should marry their little puggette." She sighed against his ear, enjoying the shiver, "I want to make sure we are both on the same page. If that means I have to _convince_ you." The word 'convince' had been emphasized by her tongue tracing his ear, "then so be it."

"She tried to convince everyone to give me over to Voldemort." Harry said dryly, "Just admit that you are feeling frisky and knock off the pretense." He felt her sigh theatrically and move back from him.

"Very well. Come to our room when you are done, you spoilsport." Padma said and walked out of the room leaving Harry to attempt breaking the sound barrier in the act of cleaning and changing a squirming baby.

Scene Break

Harry would admit that he is excited about his first class. It showed when he arrived at Hogwarts an hour before the time he'd told Dumbledore to expect him. He came with a small case full of items and books, items and books that he would not show the Headmaster when he arrived. "Surprises for my classes," was all that he would say, earning a slight frown from the old man.

At the table, Harry sat between Professors Babbling and Sinestra. The two witches had been friendly enough when they had been introduced to him, so Harry didn't mind being put at the end with the 'junior professors', even though he noted a scowling Snape seated beside Dumbledore.

"So, do you prefer Harry over Hadrian?" Babbling asked him, "I would. My parents named me Bathsheda so Goddess knows I prefer Sheda or even B.B."

"Call her Babs, she loves that," Sinestra said with a barely noticeable grin.

Babbling frowned, "I wouldn't. You said you have a fiancee, she would probably prefer you to have your parts."

 _Merlin's balls, it's like being stuck between Narcissa and Padma..._ Harry thought with a wince. "How about I call you Sheda?"

"That will let you keep your berries." She said and then reached for her mug of tea.

"Babs is touchy about being called Babs," Sinestra explained and began to cut into her grilled tomato, dipping a piece into the yolk of her eggs. "I can get away with it because of blackmail you see."

"One time. I tell you about a blind date one time." Babbling growled over the rim of her mug, "I will never forgive Rosmerta for setting me up with him."

"Okay, now I have to know." Harry said to the Runes professor, "Who?"

"Gilderoy Lockhart." Babbling ground out, "He spent the first half of the date talking about his 'exploits' and the other half trying to get somewhere that the first half of the date closed off for him."

"There, now you can call her Babs," Sinestra said, teasing her friend.

"I will kill you, it will look like a fault runic cluster." Babbling warned.

"Sheda it is," Harry said earning a laugh from the Astronomy professor.

Dumbledore stood up, "If I may have your attention for one short announcement," he said, pausing for silence, "I would like to introduce Professor Hadrian Peverell, who will be replacing Professor Quirrell who will be taking a short sabbatical during this term. Please join me in wishing Professor Peverell the very best as he begins his career with us."

"'Beginning my career'? Does he think I'm going to stay?" Harry muttered as he rose and accepted the polite applause from the student body.

"You could always teach Defense." Babbling said to him, "Tremble isn't a very good Professor, so even if the jinx doesn't get him he probably wouldn't stay."

"Padma would kill me," Harry said as he sat back down and finished his breakfast.

Scene Break

"Hello class, as you heard from the Headmaster, my name is Professor Peverell," Harry said to assembled sixteen third-year students. "Today, we are going to talk about muggles and why anyone who tells you they are backward or primitive isn't just wrong, they are stupid."

That got a stir out of the class. Harry noted one or two frowning faces among the thirteen-year-old students. "Muggles have been to the moon." He started before using his wand to dim the lights and start the projector. The children murmured loudly as the first image was of a space shuttle. "This is the Apollo 11 program and its Saturn VSA-506 rocket. It traveled to the moon on July the 16th 1969. It carried a small crew of muggle astronauts, that is what they call the crew of these shuttles, and got them there and back over the course of eight days."

The students were silent as the slides continued showing the shuttle, the Eagle landing module, and the crew. Harry paused with each slide and explained what was going on.

"I hate that muggle pictures don't move," one of the students said, "it's boring."

Harry grinned at that, "That is why I brought the next subject for today's lesson. Everyone look at the screen please, I would like to introduce you all to Misters Tom and Jerry." It had taken some doing but Harry had managed to ensure that the projector would also play film thanks to some additional charms that sped the reels so that the static images began to move.

Scene Break

After dinner, Harry prepared to meet Dumbledore at the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets. Padma knew he would be late getting home, but he'd promised her that he wouldn't take long. She'd immediately rolled her eyes at his assurances and warned him that if he wasn't home by midnight he'd be sleeping on the lawn.

Dumbledore was waiting with a small silver cage tucked under his arm. Inside the cage, under the effect of a sleeping spell, was a small brownish red rooster. "Ah, Professor Peverell, how did you find your first day? From what I've heard when the students were between classes, you were very effective."

"I did have to vanish some sick after I showed the seventh-years the bikini atoll test footage." Harry said, "So, you have our rooster. Let's begin." He preempted any further discussion as he opened the door to the girls bathroom and stepped inside. "The chambers entrance is here by the sink." He pointed to the faucet, "How precisely a wizard who died before indoor plumbing managed this I don't know or care to know."

"Most likely he had a trusted-" Dumbledore began but stopped when Harry hissed to open the pipe.

"As I said, don't know and don't care." Harry said, "Right, it's a bumpy ride so watch yourself." He hopped onto the slide and made his way down. When Harry arrived at the bottom he noted that the pile of animal bones that had been his cushion both times was significantly smaller. _Betsy must have been on a diet before Tom let her back out._ He thought as he felt what might have been a badgers skull crack under his foot. Padma had been the one to give the basilisk a name when he'd told her about his exploits. _"_ _It keeps me from imagining it as a massive snake with a death stare"_ she had told him at the time.

A moment later Dumbledore slid down, landing with a much less dignified thud, the cage sliding from his hands. The impact of the cage hitting the ground woke the rooster from its magical sleep. It squawked angrily at the rude awakening. Harry stuck his wand in and cast a silencing charm before picking up the cage. "I told you it was bumpy." He said as Dumbledore stood up, mending a tear in his robes.

"So you did." The Headmaster replied dryly. "This part of the Castle doesn't show up on any map I've ever seen." He stared at the Chamber, "It appears to be Goblin craft work." He said as he inspected a pillar.

"Neat," Harry said and began to walk briskly towards the carved face of Salazar Slytherin. "Okay Headmaster, build us a hiding place and get ready." He heard Dumbledore conjuring something and opened the cage. The, by now, very grumpy rooster pecked at his hand causing Harry to flinch before he cursed under his breath and yanked the bird out, depositing it onto the floor.

"I believe this will do," Dumbledore said from behind a makeshift three-walled stone partition in the middle of the Chamber.

"Alright, get ready," Harry said as he stepped behind the stone walls. He ducked out long enough to hiss "S _peak to me, Slytherin, greatest of the Hogwarts Four!"_ before ducking back inside the hiding place. He cursed under his breath and ducked back out, releasing the silencing charm on the rooster and then pulled his head back just as the heavy body of the basilisk began to slide out.

" _Another Sssspeaker hasss came...but thisss one ssssmellsss different."_

Harry was stunned, without Tom Riddle's ghostly form controlling it, the basilisk came out slowly, inspecting everything. _"_ _H-hello there."_ Harry hissed, _"_ _Not to be rude, but are you at all planning on eating us?"_

" _Sssspeakersss have nothing to fear from sssssserpentssss."_

For a moment, Harry was certain he could hear the massive snake rolling its eyes at the 'silly question'. _"_ _In my defense, the last time I met a basilisk it tried to kill me. So, I think it's perfectly fair that I asked you if you were planning on eating myself and the wizard beside me."_

" _Perhapsss it isss fair sssspeaker. But what I ssssssay issss true. You have opened the door of my prisssson. I am in your debt."_

"Well, this is awkward." Harry said to Dumbledore, "It doesn't mean us any harm. Wait a moment," _"_ _You don't mean us any harm right? This isn't a situation where you say you won't eat us, but you will kill us. I've met an Acromantula who thought that way."_

" _A sssspider alwayssss sssseeeksss to twisssst the truth to ssssuit itsssss neeedsss. I sssswear to you, on the Great Ssssstar Draco, to do no harm to you or the other sssspeaker."_

The rooster chose that moment to crow. At the cry of the bird, the giant serpent collapsed and died. "Damn it, it had just promised not to hurt us." Harry said as he left the shelter, "I should have stunned the rooster."

"A pity you didn't. Who knows what it could have told us." Dumbledore said sadly, "Still, it will not be wasted. Severus can make good use of the carcass."

"Or we could bury the, at least semi-sentient, being that meant us no harm." Harry said, "The basilisk swore not to harm us."

Dumbledore paused, "Very well," he said, "We can discuss this later. Now how do we get out of here?"

Harry pulled a shrunken broom from his pocket. "I brought this. I don't think it'll fit us both." He tapped his wand to it and restored the broom, flying back towards the entrance then up, leaving the Headmaster in the chamber beside the corpse.

"Fawkes!" Dumbledore called out for his familiar. The bird arrived in a flash of fire and magic. "Ah, good, come help me out of here. I need to speak with Severus about harvesting what we can from-" Fawkes screeched at him and vanished. "Fawkes! Damn it all!" Dumbledore fumed as he walked to the pipe. He applied sticking charms to his hands and began to climb the slippery pipe.

Scene Break

Harry arrived home at one minute to midnight. He raced into the house just as Padma stood there in his blue bathrobe ready to lock the doors. "Good timing." She said with a wry grin as he stepped inside panting and holding his side.

"Someone mucked with our apparition point. I had to floo over to the Tonks house and walk over." He said looking at her.

She grinned, "I may have put some wards up when you missed dinner." She told him, "So, how did it go?"

Harry laughed, "It's my turn for a hot shower. You can scrub my back while I tell you everything."

With that the pair ascended the stairs to the upstairs bathroom and quiet reigned in the home of Harry Potter.

Until the next near-death experience of course, which happened when Harry slipped and hit his head on the wall of the shower.


	10. Chapter 10

**The Peverell Legacy**

 **A/N: I own nothing, especially not HP. Welcome to another fanfic, Italics are for thoughts and Bold is for spells. Here's chapter ten, enjoy!**

 **Chapter Ten: The last Horcrux**

It was the weekend when Harry and Padma finally spoke aloud the thing neither had been willing to bring up. There was only one Horcrux left and it was currently residing in the small boy that was grinning at them while wearing a majority of his morning oatmeal. "We have to do something." Harry said morosely, "But I only know three ways to remove a Horcrux."

"And suggesting either of those methods will promptly result in there only being one Harry Potter left alive." Padma said simply, "We aren't using a killing curse on a baby, we definitely aren't using basilisk venom on one, and fiendfyre is too messy even if it wasn't guaranteed to kill him." She groaned, "But we do have to do something." She looked fondly at the toddler. She'd dressed him that morning in denim overalls. She liked to buy him clothes and toys, making up for the life her Harry had suffered. Every time she thought of the Dursley family and what they did to him, she regretted his stupid noble spirit that kept her from setting their house on fire.

"I'll talk to Cissy." She said after a moment of thought, "I doubt she'll know anything more than we do. But it never hurts to have another brain working on the case."

Harry nodded as he added sugar to his morning cup of coffee. "I think I've managed to convince Dumbledore that I'm not interested in remaining a professor." He said with some humor, "After I refused to reopen the Chamber for him, he didn't seem as keen on keeping me around." That earned him a smile from Padma who leaned in and kissed his cheek.

"Good boy." She said, "I think today should be a family trip to the park. Little man enjoys the sunshine almost as much as he enjoys when I get an ice pop." Padma laughed, "He ends up wearing most of it when I share with him."

"How's Bodhi?" Harry asked her, "You asked Andi to check you out on Wednesday?"

"Tuesday," Padma corrected and then continued, "Our little girl is fine and putting on the correct amount of weight. Andi said that we needed to have the wedding soon if I want to still fit in that dress."

Harry nodded, Padma had been going over the details for their wedding. With the induction of Pandora Lovegood into her circle of friends the foursome of Andromeda, Narcissa, Pandora, and Padma was enough to terrify Harry with the idea of the sort of messes they would get him into.

Once breakfast was finished, Harry and Padma cast warming charms on each other and on the now sleeping toddler. Harry placed his younger self into the pram they had purchased and with that, the little family made their way out of the house.

It was a clear if chilly day, the sky was bright blue and a breeze blew through the street. It would have caused a shiver to go through Harry and Padma if not for the warming charms. They had still bundled up and looked to anyone watching like a normal couple with their son. As they walked together they didn't speak, not needing to fill the comfortable silence. This, not madcap adventure was what Harry had longed for since the end of Riddle's war. Harry heard the birdsong from a nearby waxwing as it drove a crow from the tree it had claimed as its own.

Seeing the bird's fight made him think of Hedwig and he sighed. That earned a look from Padma, "What's on your mind?" She asked him quietly as they waited for the crosswalk light to change.

"Nothing really, just looking forward to his eleventh birthday so I can introduce him to my first real friend." Harry replied with a smile, "Hedwig," he clarified, "The first time I met her I had no idea what to expect, I thought she'd be like a pet."

"Considering how whipped she had you, I need to remember to do something nice for her when we go to get her." Padma teased him fondly. The fact that Hedwig had run roughshod over Harry had been well known during their time at Hogwarts. Padma could easily remember seeing the snowy owl dive bomb Harry during meals if she thought he was being stingy with bacon. "She did my work for me," Padma said as they crossed the street.

"Oh haha," Harry said dryly as they made their way down the street towards the nearby park. Harry and Padma paused to let a woman pass them with her own children, "Remember when Molly Weasley tried to act like everything was fine after we started dating?"

Padma rolled her eyes, "I hate when people ask me if I know the guy who runs the curry house they like because his last name is Patil same as mine." She groaned at the memory, "My family hasn't been to India since my grandfather's wedding. Mum and dad both grew up in Bognor Regis for Circe's sake!" They arrived at the park and settled onto a bench, "She wasn't as bad as that jackass transfer from the states. 'You speak Tamil but your name is Maithili'." She said affecting a nasal accent, "I told him that I am British, I didn't go to India until the year before I met you."

"He was just trying to show off how smart he was." Harry said to her, "Or at least how smart he thought he was."

"He was a jackass." Padma said hotly, "Anyway he's probably shitting his pants right now, so I don't want to think about him or Molly Weasley. What I want is a nice day out with my fiancee and our kiddo and one on the way." With that, she settled in beside him and pulled a small book from her pocket.

"So what's that book?" He asked her as he slowly moved the pram back and forth rocking the sleeping toddler inside.

Padma flicked her eyes at him, "Pandora lent it to me, it's her notes." She passed it over to him for a moment, smirking when he practically shoved it back, "It's a bit of a dry read."

"I nearly got a nosebleed from the first set of numbers." Harry said to her, "Maybe we should ask her about possible ways to remove them Horcrux?"

She paused, "I'll make a note on the calendar, you just had a good idea." She teased him before kissing his cheek, "I'm surprised you trust the mother of Luna Lovegood to muck about in your younger self's skull."

"I trust Luna, she's one of the best people I know. She adored her mother, so I'm willing to trust her the same way." Harry said simply. He took her hand, "What do you think Parvati will be like now?"

That gave her a moment's pause. Her sister had been tortured by the Carrows, now they, along with their ilk were in Azkaban. Parvati was safe from them now, she had a chance to grow up. "I think, she'll manage to get her hands on Neville this time." She said after a moment, "She had a crush on him when we were kids."

"I remember her defending him from Pansy in our first year, plus when we flew over the stands, I saw her sitting with him and Hermione." Harry said after a moment, "I'm surprised she didn't go with him to the Yule Ball."

"Nope, she had to go with my first choice and I got stuck with the human black hole." Padma said with annoyance, "Ginny wanted you, but you ignored her. She went with the next best thing in her mind to get you jealous." She laughed softly, "Do you know what Ron thought was a good conversation starter? He said my breath was a little too minty."

"I like your minty breath." Harry said kissing her to prove it.

Scene Break

Harry was back at school and Padma was with Narcissa and Pandora. Explaining the truth to Narcissa about who 'James' was had resulted in her friend leveling a single raised eyebrow at Padma, "You mean the dark-haired and green-eyed boy with a lightning bolt scar is the same dark-haired and green-eyed boy with a lightning bolt scar I thought he was the first time we met?" She said dryly.

"You knew?" Padma said and then sighed, "Of course you did," Padma muttered, "You were able to bullshit Riddle with your sister breathing down your neck." Padma straightened up, "Yes, our 'James' is Harry Potter and 'Hadrian Peverell' is Harry Potter as well."

Pandora goggled at the news, "I knew you were from the future, but I didn't know that he was-" She shook her head, the tiny radish-shaped earrings jingling slightly, "So, inside him-"

"Is the last chunk of Tom Riddle's soul not attached to him. We'd really prefer it to not be there so that when Harry goes to deal with the wraith of Riddle flitting about Albania he's dealing with a mortal spirit." Padma finished, "So, any ideas?"

Neither witch spoke at first. Then Pandora raised her hand, "This isn't a class." Padma said to the spacey looking blonde.

"What about a transference spell? Like a super-powered switching spell?" Pandora pulled a sparkly pink notebook out of her robes and began to scribble feverishly.

"The goblins have a way to destroy cursed objects, but I rather doubt you want that option." Narcissa said looking at the small playpen Andromeda had given her as a belated baby shower present. The two boys were playing with Draco's stuffed dragon and a small smile curved onto her lips. "He's not so bad as a little boy or as a grown man, so I would prefer not to use that method either."

"He owes you his life," Padma said while Pandora continued to scribble. "When he died during the Battle of Hogwarts, you were there with Lucius. Things had went tits up in a big way, your son's little buddies had used fiendfyre and nearly burned the castle down. Harry woke up in the forbidden forest with Voldemort and Bellatrix leering down at him. Luckily he sent you instead of Bellatrix to check Harry's vital signs. You just wanted to know if Draco was alive."

"And the only one who knew that at the time was Harry Potter." Narcissa finished looking back at the boys, "I celebrated the Dark Lords defeat in private," She admitted, "Lucius had to spend a small fortune to convince the Ministry that he wasn't to blame for his actions. I used to spend nights in Draco's nursery holding him while downstairs Lucius and Bella would do their masters bidding." She smiled at the pair in the playpen, "I would have turned my wand on any of them if they threatened Draco, something Lucius found out the hard way."

"He found it out thirty-seven times." Padma said with a smile.

Narcissa shrugged, "Only sixteen times, I may have severed a vein after that. He did bleed a lot more on the seventeenth."

"I think I have it!" Pandora exclaimed as she shot upright from her seat, "I need my lab!" She stood and vanished with a crack leaving Padma and Narcissa with the boys.

"She is very excitable isn't she?" Padma said looking at the spot where she had been. "She left her-"

There was another crack as Pandora reappeared, reaching down she grabbed the notebook she'd left and then vanished again.

"Never mind."

Scene Break

It was three days later when Pandora arrived at Padma's doorstep with a smile that threatened to take up most of her face. "I said I thought I had it and I was wrong, I did have it! I mean I have it now!" She hurried into the house, pausing to scoop up Harry, earning a giggle from the boy and a happy cry of 'Pan!'.

"Hello my love!" Pandora said kissing his hair and making him giggle, "Auntie Pan has a surprise for you and your mummy!" She spun the boy before setting him back on the floor. "I did the last tests over the breakfast and everything worked."

Padma looked from her morning paper and then set it down. She rose from the table, "Okay, explain what you just said bearing in mind that while I have the basic idea of what this is about you talk very fast and forget no one else can read your mind."

"The transference spell, I used it this morning. I spent three minutes with my mind switched with Xeno's." Pandora explained to her, "So we can switch that aspect of Harry into something killable like say," She pulled a small box from her pocket, "This beetle."

"And you are sure it'll work?" Padma asked looking at the happy child who had gone back to his toys, "You won't take his soul and leave Riddles, right? I'm not about to explain to Harry why this version of him is gone."

"It should be as simple as looking for the part that doesn't belong." Pandora said pulling out the pink notebook and showing her, "See here by the jam stain?" Not giving Padma a chance to answer, she continued, "This is the procedure and there by that, don't mind the blood, it's fine, that is the wand movement."

"Every moment I am in contact with you, I find myself wondering how much crazier Luna is going to be." Padma mused earning a laugh from the blonde, "This is still above my paygrade, but I'm assuming everything is right. Alright, is there a specific time for this or can we do it now?"

"Oh now, of course. I wouldn't bring the beetle if it wasn't ready to go." Pandora said serenely, "Take him upstairs and bathe him thoroughly. I'll wait for you here." Padma picked up Harry and, perhaps still worried for what would happen, kissed his forehead and carried him upstairs.

She was a jumble of nerves as she bathed the little boy. Harry, being literally any child ever, did not want a bath, not now and possibly not ever. "Please don't be fussy right now love," Padma said hurriedly as he grabbed at the washcloth, "This is kind of important right now. It's giving me a chance to not think about what could go wrong. I know Pandora is brilliant, but let's face it, she did blow herself up last time." She sent a patronus to Harry, not caring if anyone heard it with the words 'we're doing this now, get here quickly as you can'. She watched as her patronus vanished with her message before gathering Harry back into her arms and carrying him downstairs.

Almost as soon as she took the first step on the landing to go back downstairs she heard Harry's voice and smiled. His presence made this situation far more tolerable than it would have been otherwise. "So, you're going to put him into a beetle and then we smash it with a hammer?" Padma heard Harry say to Pandora.

"As much fun as putting the beetle into a series of ever smaller boxes and smashing them with a large mallet, I was actually thinking we would use a less Heath Robinson-esque method." Pandora said as she finished clearing the toys and general clutter from the room with her wand, "Namely I was thinking we would just squash it."

"Last time we had an animal with his soul in it, we had to use a magical sword." Harry said, "How about I just use the killing curse? It's worked so far."

Pandora shrugged, "As you will." Padma entered the room and Pandora took the little boy from her, "Perfect since both of you are here I can do a scan to make sure that I get the right soul." She gently set the toddler on the floor with a sticking charm and then flicked her wand at him and then at the adult Harry.

A strange tickling sensation overtook Harry's senses as the scan continued. Pandora seemed to get what she needed though. She pointed the wand back at his younger self and intoned the spell she'd created. Harry took Padma's hand as a now-familiar black mist worked its way from the scar on the little boy's forehead. Harry heard his toddler self crying but they couldn't move to comfort him yet.

The mist was drawn into the box and as the last of it went inside, Harry was almost sure he'd heard a tiny shriek of pain. Pandora used her wand to levitate the beetle so that Harry could cast the curse onto it. In a flash of green light, the last Horcrux was destroyed.

"Now, all that's left is Tom Riddle himself." Pandora said cheerfully, "I think that went rather well."

Harry and Padma was busy looking after the screaming boy. Padma was healing his bleeding scar while Harry, in a position that many fathers find themselves when their child is crying, was trying to keep Padma calm while failing utterly to keep himself calm.

The piteous cries of the younger Harry called to Padma's very heart and once he wasn't bleeding, she practically crushed him to her chest.

"Thanks, Pandora." Harry said, "I didn't know how we'd do this without you."

Padma went to her side and hugged the blond witch, kissing her cheek, "Now we're even." Pandora said to Padma with a smile as she returned the hug, "You gave me a chance to see my future daughter grow up, this was the least I could do."


	11. Chapter 11

**The Peverell Legacy**

 **A/N: I own nothing, especially not HP. Welcome to another fanfic, Italics are for thoughts.** **Well, this is it for the main story. I have an epilogue that will handle the wedding and a few other items, but the story I wanted to tell is told.**

 **Chapter Eleven** **: Tom Riddle's Bad Day**

To Padma's complete non-surprise, Dumbledore had managed to get the former Muggle Studies professor to come back sooner than he had told Harry, he would be able to do. With Harry no longer employed by the school, Harry had returned home to Padma and his toddler self.

Padma was ready for the wedding. While Harry had been working, she had been making preparations with Andromeda, Narcissa, and Pandora. When Harry arrived home in the middle of the day he'd walked into a war zone. The witches were preparing for Padma's bachelorette party and as such, he was not welcome. "What are you doing back so early?" Padma asked looking up from her purse as he stepped through the floo. Harry noticed that she was wearing one of the new dresses that she had bought on a shopping trip with the Black sisters. It was a sparkly dress of a light purple color that she liked because it was her sisters favorite color.

"No longer needed at Hogwarts. Dumbledore got angry that I claimed the carcass of the Basilisk so no one could use it without my say so. A say so that I refused to give him. So after my fifth-year class the Professor was back from his 'urgent business'." Harry said kissing her cheek as he sat his briefcase down. "Which means I owe you a galleon; there's no way that he didn't just ask the current professor to leave so he could try and get me to do what he wanted."

"I told you so." She preened. "I'll take that galleon if you please." She grinned as he slipped his coin purse out and then drew the coin out herself. "Thank you, kind sir." She teased him, "So, what did you do with the carcass?"

Harry drew out another galleon and pressed it into her hand, "Called Gringotts. I didn't trust him not to find a way down there afterward. So I got the Goblins to come when he was out, sent them down to harvest everything. The money will be in our vault by the end of the week, they had to find a buyer."

"Always glad to take your hard earned money Love." She grinned and placed the coins in her purse. "I told you that Gringotts would be able to get everything out from under Snape's beak."

"So, with the fact that you are always right out of the way," Harry said teasing her lightly, "I take it you are ready for your trip with the girls tonight?"

Padma nodded, "Ted has Tonks, Draco, and the little man. He and Sirius are taking them to place he likes to take Tonks, then they are going to spend the night at Grimmauld Place." She closed her purse, "So will you go with the boys or stay at home?"

"I was thinking about going to Albania and finishing Riddle."

She looked at him for a moment, "Okay, explain your plan." She said smoothing down her dress as she leaned against the wall of the kitchen.

"He's still there, hiding in some animal. So I want to find him and destroy that vessel. With the possessed animal gone, he won't have any other anchors." Harry said, "I figure I'd go and ask the whipsnakes if they've seen anything."

"You know what kind of snakes are in the area? I'm impressed." She smiled, "But, and I truly hate bursting your bubble-"

"No you don't."

"I don't, but it seemed polite to say that I did," Padma admitted, "Why not just let him die when his host goes? Hell, it could probably have already happened." She took his hand, "I'll make you a deal, we'll go to Albania on our way to Australia for our honeymoon."

Harry could tell there was fear in her brown eyes. "You are worried that he isn't destroyed and that if I go by myself something will happen, aren't you?" When she was silent he pulled her into his arms. He felt her stiffen and then burrow into him, her face going into the crook of his neck.

"Of course I'm worried about that you idiot." She said, her words muffled against his shoulder, "This whole thing has gone too easily. He's lost his followers, his soul anchors, I've even killed the bitch who killed Cho." She looked up at him, "You were lucky the last time, you've been lucky this time too."

"No, we've been smart. No 'Dumbledore plans', remember?" He smiled at her as she extricated herself from his embrace and stood to look at him. "We'll leave it. His possession victims won't be able to live for too long and he'll have to jump out and get another. When that happens, his soul will go wherever it's going to go."

"You mean Hell."

"Of course I do." He said and tapped her nose gently with his finger. "No, you have fun with the girls tonight. I'll stay home and spend the evening very deliberately _not_ going after Voldemort."

"I love you, Potter." Padma said her cheeks flushing very lightly, "I know I can be a bitch but you still put up with me." She sighed softly, "How do you manage to get me all gushy without my permission? You know I hate feeling things."

Harry laughed and pulled her back so he could kiss her properly. "Because you are a marshmallow that just happens to be terrifying when she's mad."

Padma really didn't have an answer to that.

Scene Break

Harry had a surprise for Padma the day before the wedding. He'd asked her to trust him and let him apparate them both somewhere. After an unsure look she had acquiesced and they found themselves in the alley in a very familiar city.

"We are in-"

"Bognor Regis." Harry finished, "You and I are going to visit a chemists shop." He noticed the intake of breath and smiled, "Yes that one."

"But Harry, what if-"

"Nope. It's my wedding present to you and you can't stop me." He took her hand and led her out of the alley. "No, according to Pandora, your parents' shop is just down the road from Hotham Park." Ignoring her still sputtering softly, Harry followed the directions Pandora had given him when she'd come through earlier.

"I'm going to kill you and Pandora. I'll wait until Luna is born, but I'll kill Pandora. What am I supposed to say? 'Hey mum and dad, I'm your daughter from the future!'." Padma hissed as they passed the park and turned left towards a small cluster of shops. "Come on seriously, this is a bad idea." She pulled on his hand and forced him to stop.

"Why? You have a chance to see them again. I have to break the laws of reality whenever I want to see my parents." Harry replied, "You don't have to tell them who you are if you don't want to." He pulled her into a hug, "I just thought you'd want a chance to see them. If we don't do it then you're going to spend your whole life wishing we had."

 _Damn it, why can't you be a pushover all the time?_ Padma thought more annoyed that he was right than she was at the fact that he'd already begun moving them closer to the shop. If they didn't do it now while they were standing in the city she'd grown up then they never would. "Fine. But I'm not telling them who we are. We've done plenty of that with everyone else we've met."

"I didn't say you had to tell them." Harry said with a smile, "But at least your parents can be in the same room as their first grandchild." That, Harry knew, was a bit of a dirty trick, but it was true. Inside Padma was the first grandchild of Arjun and Indira Patil.

As they stepped into the shop Harry heard a bell ring in the back. Behind the counter, Harry got his first actual look at his technical future father in law. Arjun Patil had died before he and Padma had gotten together. Arjun was shorter than Harry had expected. He was thickset with thinning black hair and small half-moon glasses perched on his nose. "Good afternoon, how may I help you?" He said to the pair politely.

"My fiance and I were in the area today and we need something for an upset stomach." Harry said to him, "I'm afraid that the chip shop by our hotel is a bit heavy for me."

The man seemed to be holding in a laugh, "You must have been to 'Captain Stallings'. It's the worst shop in town but he tells a good fishing story." He looked over to Padma, "How are you, ma'am?"

"I- I'm fine. Thank you." Padma didn't know what to say. This was her father, alive and in good health. Harry had given her a gift that she could never repay. "Actually, do you have any recommendations for a soon to be mother?"

"Well, my wife had twins last year. She would take ginger and honey in the evenings." Arjun replied, "She's in the back. I'll ask her if she has any other ideas for you." With that, the man walked to the back.

A few moments later he returned with his wife. Indira Patil looked so much like her adult daughter that for a moment, Harry was sure she would comment on it. But instead, the woman merely looked from Harry to Padma, "So, is this your first?"

"It is." Padma replied, "We are raising my fiance's nephew, but Bodhi is our first."

"Bodhi, you know you are having a daughter?"

"We have a good feeling." Padma replied. She wasn't quite willing to surprise her mother with the knowledge that magic exists. The Patil matriarch wouldn't learn about magic until the twins fourth birthday with Parvati actually levitated their toys and sent them flying around the room, that was when Arjun admitted that he was a wizard. The strength of her sisters magic had gotten the attention of the Ministry and the closest person they could send was Augusta Longbottom. That meeting was the day Parvati had met Neville. She'd fallen for the boy and never looked back.

"Well, you are carrying rather low. Not that it's actual proof, but when I carried our daughters they were a bit higher." Indira explained, "Arjun already recommended the ginger and honey. I would also suggest mixing a tablespoon of turmeric into some apple juice each morning." She frowned when her husband scoffed, "Arjun would prefer that I recommend one of the pills that he sells. However, you seem in good enough health, I hardly think you need a chemical imbalance dealt with. The best thing for you would be some extra vitamins and minerals."

"Also not going to Captain Stallings." Arjun added, "The man only changes his fry oil when he thinks he's being inspected the next day."

"Indeed. A woman expecting her first shouldn't eat fried foods. Especially not those." Padma endured the lecture happily. This was her parents, something she hadn't experienced in quite some time. A squeeze to Harry's hand told him just how much she appreciated what he'd done for her.

Harry and Padma left the shop with a few token purchases. As they made their way back to the alley they'd used as their apparation point, Padma made a plan. She pressed him against the brickwork and kissed him soundly, "Thank you." She said quietly, "For making me do something I didn't want but did need to do."

He grinned and without a further word took her into his arms and apparated them both home.


	12. Chapter 12

The Peverell Legacy

A/N: I own nothing, especially not HP. Welcome to another fanfic, Italics are for thoughts, Bold is for spells. This is the first part of the epilogue, there will be a few more of these leading up to the final scene. I didn't know I would be writing that scene until it got into my head and I spent the entire weekend diagramming what I wanted from it. The problem is it was too far away to reasonably put into this part of the epilogue.

Epilogue Part One: What do you mean you forgot?

"What do you mean 'you forgot'?" Padma said angrily as she paced in the living room of their home. She was now Padma Peverell, having been a married woman for all of six hours. She and Harry had come back to their home to pick up their luggage before they went on their honeymoon. Harry had gone upstairs to get their passports from their place in the wall-safe when he came back downstairs with a scrap of paper. He'd handed it to Padma who'd read it and cursed under her breath. _These are our notes for dealing with the Ring!_ She thought angrily.

"We both forgot. You were with me at the time, remember?" Harry said with a groan. "We need to go to Little Hangleton and deal with it. We have-" He stopped and checked his watch, "Three hours before our flight. I know where the graveyard is, I can go back there and find the shack and then set it on fire and be back before we need to leave."

"Harry, I promise you, with love in my heart, that I will kill you if you are late," Padma said after a moment of deliberation. "I will give you an hour. After that, I will come after you." She didn't look particularly threatening with her stomach protruding as her pregnancy had reached its seventh month. However, Harry knew that she would do her best to keep her promise.

He smiled and kissed her softly, "I'll be back as soon as possible." Harry said as he prepared to apparate away, "I'm not even going to go into the shack. I'm just going hit it with fiendfyre until the place is ashes and then leave."

"J-Just be careful." Padma said after a moment, "Bodhi will need her dad to come with us when we shop for her school things." She pulled him back into a hug, "I need her dad too. Come home safe, okay? No black hands or anything."

He chuckled, "No Dumbledore plans." He kissed her again, "The sooner I leave, the sooner I can get back. Why don't you go over to Andi's and tell little me goodbye again?"

Padma watched him leave and after a moment she made her way into the living room. At the door, she saw their suitcases. Not willing to rush back in case they needed to hurry, Padma shrank the suitcases and slipped them into her pocket. _Harry, you had better make it back soon and safely._ She thought as she walked out of their house and locked it before turning and walking to the Tonks home.

Scene Break

Harry arrived at the Little Hangleton graveyard with a soft crack. _Might as well handle this while I'm here._ He thought as he drew his wand and began to summon the bones from the grave of Tom Riddle. As bone after bone appeared in a neat pile at his feet, Harry used another spell to vanish the bones into non-being. _That's one less way one of your little fans could try and bring you back Tommy._ Harry grinned as the last bone vanished from the world.

With that out of the way, he made his way down the path towards the Riddle mansion and when he found the path, he turned. He had studied this area when he'd became an Auror, each Auror chose a place for their beat. Before he began working with Padma he had often found himself wandering this village and the nearby Greater Hangleton. He supposed that it had been something stupid on his part, but as long as he walked through these streets, he knew that Voldemort was truly gone.

 _Now he won't come back._ Harry thought as he made his way through a ragged slash in the roadside brush. The path to the Gaunt shack hadn't been well cared for when the Gaunt's had been around. Now, decades later, it was barely worthy of the title 'game trail'; a tiny, narrow swath of slightly fewer bushes than the ones around it. It led to a wooden shack in the middle of an overgrown clearing. Harry drew his wand and conjured a burning serpent to devour the shack.

 _Should have brought some marshmallows._ Harry thought as he watched the shack being reduced to ashes by the flames. Banishing the serpent once the job was done, he cast a charm to freeze the ashes and then another to disperse them. Peering where the shack had stood Harry spotted a small green gemstone. "There you are." Harry said as he inspected the Stone. Surrounding the Stone was the yellowish slag of a melted golden ring. "Just to be safe though **avada kedavra**!" Harry shouted casting the killing curse at the green stone. The spell hit the Stone, but nothing happened. Harry bent down and grabbed it and then vanished.

Scene Break

Padma had been welcomed into the Tonks house and swiftly drew the little Harry into her arms. "Your counterpart is off doing something very dangerous." She said to the little boy. "You, however, are to be a good boy for Aunt Andi, do you understand me?"

He babbled at her and it sounded enough like a 'yes' that she smiled and kissed his hair. "Good little man, and don't go breaking Dora's heart either." She said with another smile.

"Auntie Pad! James wouldn't be mean to me!" Tonks said as she came racing into the living room with her mother. "He's my buddy!" She looked at Andromeda, "Isn't he Mummy?"

"Yes dear, but it always helps to make your expectations clear." Andromeda said before sitting on the couch opposite Padma, "So, what is that very dangerous thing?" She asked as she smoothed her robes upon sitting.

"We forgot one of those things. He went to go after it." Padma said with a sigh. "The danger comes from the possibility that he'll be late getting back. I trust him to deal with that thing, but we have a car coming soon."

"He'll be back soon, I'm sure." Andromeda said calmly, "He hasn't let you down yet."

That was true. That fact calmed Padma more than she was really willing to admit. Harry had always been her rock, her stability since they had begun dating what felt like a lifetime ago. Andromeda noticed the smile and laughed softly, "You aren't so punch-happy now. Perhaps being here helped you."

"It has. We have a chance for our counterparts here to grow up happy and without the threat of everyone they care about dying horribly." Padma said thoughtfully, "I'm married to the man I love, my sister won't be in a padded room, and one of our closest friends will grow up with both of her parents."

"Sounds like you two have accomplished all that anyone could ask of you."

"You and Cissy helped you know." Padma said to her, "Without you two I wouldn't have been able to deal with the Death Eaters. Or Skeeter." With the knowledge that her greatest secret was known Rita Skeeter had performed exactly to their wishes. Not only did she report the confessions of the Death Eaters, but she was also forbidden from reporting anything that wasn't true and illegal. No longer able to work in rumors and gossip, Skeeter had been forced to become the thing she hated most; an honest journalist.

They continued to talk until there was a knock on the door. Andromeda rose to get the door, "Something tells me that's your man." Andromeda said to Padma as she crossed the floor. Opening the door, she allowed Harry to come inside. "Speak of the Devil and he shall appear."

"She's calling me the Devil, so I assume I've done something." Harry said with a laugh as he followed her back to the couch. "I took care of it. We still have a little time before the car arrives so," he stopped talking and sat down beside Padma, "what did I miss?"

"Just me being stupid." Padma said lightly, "Luckily Andi is very good at getting me out of my more morose moments. The little man helps too." She added pressing another kiss to the younger Harrys hair.

"So, Paris then?" Andromeda said to the pair, "You'll love it. Ted's parents sent us to Paris for our honeymoon, though I think they did that because Bella sent me a box of severed heads as a wedding gift, thought we could hide there." She rolled her eyes, "Bella always did have a thing for dramatics."

"I absolutely don't apologize for killing her," Padma said to them.

Andromeda rolled her eyes indulgently, "Bellatrix Lestrange was a terrible woman. Bellatrix Black was clever, loyal, and very deadly to threats to the people she cared about. As far as I and Cissy are concerned, our sister died when she married Lestrange."

"Should I make another visit and deal with the brothers?" Padma offered, "I can pencil them in for a five o'clock 'cursed in the face' after the baby is born."

"No. They deserve the Hell the dementors offer them." Andromeda said coolly. "Now," she said, changing the subject, "let's talk about something more pleasant while we wait for your car. Namely setting up a marriage contract between your counterpart here and Nymphadora."

That caused a rather shocked look to appear on the face of Harry and Padma alike. Andromeda couldn't continue with a straight face and laughed, "I am kidding. You are very easy to toy with."

"I hate you."

Harry and Padma would never be able to tell just which of them said it first.

Scene Break

"Paris is wonderful." Padma exclaimed happily as she lay on their bed. They had been in Paris for three days at this point and Padma could honestly say she had never enjoyed it more than now. They had been there before for the Ministry but that involved chasing a coven of hags through the Parisian Catacombs. This was much better. "Of course, the fact that we are in a luxury penthouse helps."

"Just a little." Harry conceded.

She reached for him and pulled him down onto the bed. "So, do we want to go find the Delacour family?" She smirked, "Andi might have gotten us with that marriage contract bullshit, but we can always get her back by getting Harry Jr together with Fleur Delacour."

"I suppose we need to get used to calling him 'James', since legally speaking he is James Hadrian Peverell." Harry said putting his arm behind her and drawing her against him. "Also, no to your idea. Fleur and Bill made a good couple."

Padma pouted but then grinned, "Very well Mr. Peverell. However, you owe me chocolate. Preferably with hot peppers."

"I doubt that habanero peppers stuffed with chocolate is a thing yet."

"Well go to a store and buy peppers then find a chocolate shop and buy me some dark chocolate. Go! The moody pregnant woman demands it!" Padma laughed and pointed at the door with a falsely imperious look.

"But you just pulled me onto the bed." Harry said in a fake whining voice, "It's too comfortable to move."

"Well, if you don't want your wife, the mother of your unborn daughter, to have a treat while she continues to swell with said unborn child." Padma said with a teasing lilt in her voice, "Then I suppose I'll have to seduce Cissy, she would take care of me."

"You keep threatening to bring her into our bedroom. I thought you knew threatening me with a good time was a bad idea. It's supposed to be something that I wouldn't want."

Padma rolled her eyes and cuddled into him. "Fine. But tomorrow I get waffles."

"Yes dear," Harry said patting her head in a falsely patronizing manner. "Waffles it is."

"And peppers with chocolate."

"Yes dear."

"If you pat my head again I'll hit you."

"Yes de- ouch!" Harry winced as once again he was reminded of just how sharp the elbows of one Padma Peverell happened to be. "Prat," Harry said as he rubbed his side.

"I love you too dear." Padma replied before closing her eyes, "Goodnight Harry."

"Goodnight Padma." He kissed her before using an offhanded gesture to shut the lights of their room.


	13. Chapter 13

The Peverell Legacy

A/N: I own nothing, especially not HP. Welcome to another fanfic, Italics are for thoughts, Bold is for spells. This is the second part of the epilogue, so it's a time skip

Epilogue Part Two: In which Bodhi Peverell enters the world and woe betide her enemies.

Padma went into labor at three-thirty-five the morning of January eighteenth. There was a heavy freezing rain outside and Harry was convinced that their daughter chose this night in order to annoy her parents. Luckily, while defying dark wizards was Harry's normal modus operandi, Padma was the one who made plans of the non-Dumbledore style. Having prepared for the inevitable trip to St. Mungos since they had returned from Paris, it took moments for Harry to prepare Padma and a very annoyed toddler-Harry, known to the outside world as James Peverell for the trip through the floo where Andromeda and Narcissa were waiting for them.

Bodhi was, in Padma's humble and objective opinion, the most beautiful child that had ever graced the face of the earth. She looked at the baby in her arms and pressed a kiss to her daughters' forehead. Harry looked at his wife and daughter before turning to Andromeda, "She's perfect." Harry said in a near-whisper.

"Sistah!" James shouted from Narcissa's arms. He squirmed and reached out for the nursing baby. That earned him a laugh from Narcissa and whispered words as the woman holding him moved a few steps closer. James looked from his place in her arms down at Bodhi and then yawned apparently satisfied now that he could see her better.

"I should probably take him back to the Manor." Narcissa said to them, "You won't want to have two children in this small ward."

"Thanks, Narcissa," Harry said looking up from Padma and Bodhi, "I'll come and pick him up in the mo- "

"I will bring him back to you when you are all three settled in at home." Narcissa said, interrupting Harry and walking out of the room.

Andromeda stifled a yawn of her own and checked her watch. "Ted said that he was going back to bed when I got your message but knowing my husband, he's waiting in the kitchen practicing his 'I just woke up a few minutes ago' look so he can hear about Ms. Bodhi here." She smiled down at the now sleeping newborn before drawing her wand and transfiguring a second cot beside Padma to allow Harry to spend the night with his wife and daughter.

As the Peverell family settled in to sleep Harry met Padma's gaze and smiled, "We had to treat the time/space continuum like it owed us money, but I think it worked out alright." Padma didn't answer him except with her smile.

Platform 9 and 3/4s 1991

"Come on James! You're going to miss the train!" Bodhi pulled her brother through the barrier ahead of Harry and Padma, who followed their children with exasperated grins. They had gone through this barrier every year to see 'call me Tonks or I'll hex you' off to school each year since her first when she had half-pleaded and half-demanded that Harry walk with her through to the train. This was her last year and James' first. At the train James gave his mother and sister a final hug, shook his fathers hand, as he was far too cool to hug him where people could see and then boarded the train with Tonks using the fact that she could legally cast spells now as she had turned seventeen in April as an excuse to shrink and lighten both of their trunks so they fit in their pockets.

"Daddy, can I please go on the train with James? I'll come right back out, I promise!" Bodhi asked, tugging on Harry's sleeve. Bodhi was, as Padma loved to tell anyone, destined for Ravenclaw as she was smart enough to ask Harry instead of Padma.

"No." Padma said simply looking down at her daughter, "You know as well as I do that if you got on that train you would try to hide until it took off and then we'd have to meet the train in Hogsmeade to bring you home and then I would have to ground you until you would be the first ghost to attend Hogwarts as a student."

"Moaning Myrtle is there dear," Harry said smirking.

Padma rolled her eyes, "She was murdered first. She never went to a class as a ghost, she was too busy stalking Olive Hornby." Padma turned her attention back to their youngest, "As I was saying, you aren't getting on that train."

"It's just a train Bodhi, you've been on them before." Harry said patiently to his daughter.

Bodhi rolled her eyes, "It's a magic train." The 'duh' in her tone made it clear that her parents didn't understand that being a magic train it was worth investigating.

"It'll be boring, just you watch." Said a familiar drawling voice. Draco and Narcissa Malfoy had exited the barrier and joined the group. Draco looked pointedly away as Narcissa kissed his cheek and sent him onwards.

"I can't believe he's already going to Hogwarts." She said in a suspiciously thick voice, "It seems like only yesterday I was stabbing his father to death for bringing that thing into my home." She sighed and dabbed at her eyes with a black silk handkerchief. "So," she turned to Harry and Padma, "What will you two do now?"

"We've discussed it, Harry and I are going do some writing." Padma said to the woman who had become one of her closest friends. "Possibly a heavily fictionalized version of our story before we came here."

On the train, Tonks had settled James and Draco into a compartment. Promising to come see them, she left to meet with her friends and dashed back into the corridor. Draco looked at the gleaming red leather seats dubiously, "Are they supposed to look like this?" He asked as he sat down slowly looking out the window as, with a final whistle, the train began to pull from Kings Cross Station.

"Having never been on the train, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't know." James said with a laugh as he settled into watch London vanishing as they left the city, not to return until next summer. "I'm glad mom and dad changed their minds about Beauxbatons though."

"Probably couldn't bear the thought of their little JimJam going to France." Draco teased.

James Peverell, being a thoughtful and astute young man of eleven, did the mature thing and raised his index and middle finger in a V shape at the blonde. Just then, the compartment door opened and a gangly red-haired boy, also a first year, from the looks of him, stuck his head into the compartment. He looked from Draco to James. After a moment his eyes went wide, "YOU'RE HARRY POTTER!" The boy shouted and slammed the door shut once he'd cleared the threshold.

"No." James said after a moment, "My name is James."

"Come off it mate, you're Harry Potter! I'm Ron Weasley." He continued to talk swiftly, asking about the scar, if he could remember his parents at all, if he could remember Voldemort. James continued to state that his name was James and not Harry when finally, Draco had enough. The blonde stepped out of the compartment and closed the door behind him.

"Glad he's gone mate. That's Draco Malfoy. My dad has told me about that family. They are bad news. Dark Wizards, the whole lot of them. His father worked for You-Know-Who." Ron said smiling broadly, "Anyway Harry-"

"James." James said growing angry at this stranger who was insulting his friend.

"You've got to be careful who you hang out with. What if someone thought you were a dark wizard?" Ron continued without showing a sign that he cared what the boy in front of him preferred being called.

Suddenly James saw his own personal avenging angel. The door slid open again and Draco walked in, but he wasn't alone. Coming in behind him was a very annoyed looking Tonks and a brawny seventh-year Slytherin that James had met before. "Right, Barney and I were in the middle of discussing the Weird Sisters concert, so I'm going to make this fast; Jamie do you want the ginger in here?" Tonks asked pointing a finger at Ron.

"Of course, he does!" Ron said, turning to face the newcomers. "We're going to be best mates."

Tonks looked at James, ignoring Ron. "Not particularly since he keeps calling me the wrong name and insulting my actual friend."

Tonks looked at Ron, "I'm going to make this really easy for you since you're a firstie: get out of this compartment or I will turn your knees backwards, so you kick your ass with every step, so I don't have to."

Perhaps Ron wasn't as stupid as James had initially believed. He backed out of the compartment, "I'll tell my brother Percy he's a pre-"

"He's a wanker." Tonks finished for him, "He also knows better than to bother me."

She slammed the door in Ron's face and then settled down beside James. "Right. I doubt that'll be the end of it, so we might as well settle in Barney."

Barney, otherwise known as Barnaby Lee, sat down across from James, beside Draco. "I'll have to tell Liz about the 'turn your knees backwards' thing. That was a good threat." The large teenager said with a grin, "How's it going James?" He asked, "This one hasn't been trying to get you to go to Hufflepuff has she?"

"Of course, I have." Tonks said with a grin as she put her arm around James, "How would I be able to corrupt my favorite firstie, if he was in one of the other, crappier Houses. Like Slytherin for example."

"Hey!" Draco said glaring at her, "I'm going to be in Slytherin!"

"Nah, you're too impulsive. Watch, you'll be in Gryffindor." Tonks said, enjoying riling her cousin up.

"I'll bet you a galleon I'm in Slytherin." Draco said reaching into his pockets.

Tonks' grin grew wider. "I have a better idea: you go into Slytherin and I'll do something really embarrassing." She said leaning forward in her seat.

"Like what?"

"I'll kiss Jamie in front of the whole school." Tonks said settling back again.

James shook his head, "Don't get me involved in your nonsense Dora. I want precisely zero to do with this."

"You're on." Draco said, "If I go into a different House then-"

"Then you have to do that dance you made up when you were six." Tonks said laughing at the memory. That 'dance' hadn't really been a dance at all. Draco had gotten into his mother's potion ingredients and had accidentally gotten a localized pulsating potion spilled onto his legs. Until Narcissa could remedy the problem Draco had spent the entire day kicking his legs in what Ted had described as a perfect version of the hustle.

"I said I don't want to be involved in this." James repeated hotly.

"Deal."

He groaned as Tonks and Draco shook hands. _Maybe Beauxbatons would still take me if I wrote them a letter asking nicely?_ He thought as the door opened a third time. This time, thankfully, it wasn't Ron Weasley. Instead a chubby dark-haired boy and a bushy-haired girl stayed in the doorway, "Excuse me?" The girl said, "Have you seen a toad?"

"His name is Trevor." The boy added.

"Trevor the toad?" Tonks said incredulously. When the boy nodded, she drew her wand," What does he look like?"

"He's gray and warty." The boy said, "He's about this big." He cupped his hands as if holding a particularly fat toad.

" **Accio Trevor the Toad!** " Tonks called out and after a moment of silence, a large toad came zooming into the compartment and into her hands.

"Thank you!" The boy said taking the toad from her, "I'm Neville Longbottom."

"I'm Hermione Granger." The girl added.

"In this order," Tonks began pointing to herself and then to the others, I'm Tonks, that's all you need to know, that's Barney-"

"Barnaby. Tonks is forever giving people stupid nicknames."

"Hey, Cooper deserved his nickname of Gobshite." Tonks said before continuing, "That's Draco, and beside me is Jamie."

"James."

With that, the compartment was full. Eventually Barnaby left to go find Liz, his girlfriend and Head Girl for the year, a fact he said without a trace of bragging.

"So, you four excited for Hogwarts?" Tonks asked once Harry had passed her one of the pumpkin pasties he'd bought as the trolley had went by.

"I'm very excited!" Hermione said smiling, "I'm the first witch in my family and-"

"You're muggleborn?" Draco said, his lip moving in distaste. He probably would have said something else, had Tonks not reached over and flicked his ear hard enough to make him wince and draw back.

"Ignore him. Apparently, Aunt Cissy hasn't beaten all of the idiot out of him." Tonks said to Hermione, "My dad is muggleborn. He was also Head Boy for his year and survived six different assassination attempts by my mum's family." She looked at Draco, "You know your greaseball of a godfather is only a halfblood like Jamie. Purity means two things, jack and shite, and jack left town."

Draco said something huffy under his breath that sounded remarkably like 'get stuffed'.

"Anyway," Tonks said to Hermione, "Don't worry about being first generation. You're all going to start at the same level and knowing this idiot," She flicked her eyes back at Draco, "You'll probably run rings around him."

James leaned back in his seat watching the wild moor they were passing through. In a few hours' time, they would be at Hogwarts. He could still say he was looking forward to learning magic, even if it seemed fairly clear, even to an eleven-year-old, that fate was sharpening its very best pitchfork to jab at him. Between a ginger fanboy, his not-so-secret crush teasing him at every opportunity, and the nagging feeling that said fanboy was, even now, telling anyone who would listen that he was Harry Potter and that they were 'best mates'. _Still,_ he thought, _could be worse. Bodhi could have snuck onto the train._


	14. Chapter 14

The Peverell Legacy

A/N: I own nothing, especially not HP. Welcome to another fanfic, Italics are for thoughts, Bold is for spells.

Epilogue Part Three: Snape the lover

 _Dear Mum and Dad and Bodhi,_

 _Remember when I asked if we could move to France so I could go to Beauxbatons? You don't, probably because I didn't say it, but I am saying it now. Hogwarts is full of idiots who seem to think if they call me Harry Potter enough times that I will magically decide to stop being James Peverell._

 _Teachers are mostly alright, I like Charms and Transfiguration a lot. Potions sucks, but that's because Draco's godfather is the teacher. He's never liked me, so I'm not surprised he uses every chance he gets to belittle me. I wish he wasn't so hard of Neville though. He and I are both in Gryffindor with our friend Hermione Granger. She's the smartest person in our year. Draco had a problem at first with her being muggleborn, but then he tried to quiz her, and she beat him. He pulled a face and was huffy for a while, but I think he's coming around now. Tonks is always Tonks. She kissed me in front of everyone when Draco got put in Slytherin. She's weird._

Padma glared at the offending parchment. _I knew we should've killed him. He's still treating James and Neville like shit. But noooo, Harry 'Still hasn't gotten the Dumbledore beaten out of him' Potter wouldn't poison him…or let me do it._ She drew in a swift calming breath. She had promised Harry that she would stop going straight to 'murder-mode' as he'd termed it. Andromeda had put her in touch with a muggle-born friend who had left Hogwarts for the University of Cardiff and was possibly the only therapist that saw magical clients. Thanks to the oath she'd taken Padma knew she could tell the woman everything. _Survivors guilt_ she had termed it.

Still, she wouldn't deny that it had helped. She hadn't felt a murderous urge in nearly a year until this letter arrived anyway. Now she felt murderous. It was only affection for Narcissa that she hadn't made the greasy-haired godfather of James' best friend fall down 'a flight of stab wounds' to quote Pandora Lovegood.

Suddenly there were arms around her. Harry was hugging her, and she smiled despite herself at the scent of his aftershave. Since the company he'd used when they were dating didn't exist, yet, he'd needed to find something new. "That letter isn't great is it?" He murmured against her hair as he pressed a kiss to the top of her head. "We can't go down there, and Snape doesn't go into the village. Any ideas?"

"Have Cissy call him over by floo and let me disembowel him." She suggested hotly, feeling the old rage building. "Barring that, have her call him over and let me kick him in the balls."

"Pad, breathe. Remember the exercises." He urged her. She drew in a breath and then another one, holding it and releasing it slowly. Harry hugged her tighter before stepping back and letting her turn to face him. "I have an idea…"

Scene Break

Tonks looked at the letter she'd been sent by Harry and Padma. She grinned and set it down, watching as the letter consumed itself in a small fireball. Padma had promised to show her that spell one day, a time-delayed immolation spell that activated when the reader finished the paper. _So, his Royal Greasiness wants to harass Jamie eh? Alright then, two can play that game._

The next day found Snape in a fouler mood than normal. Someone had filled his office with dungbombs. Someone had unlocked his office and befouled it. It had to be the Weasley twins but somehow, they had managed to have air-tight alibis having been called out to an early Quidditch practice. Then he'd heard giggling whispers that he had been seen coming out of that fraud Trelawney's office in the early hours of the morning. Now for the worst, he had double potion with the Gryffindor first years which meant he'd be stuck with Potter and Longbottom.

Sure enough, they walked inside at the appointed time. Snape watched as the youngest Weasley tried to catch Potters eye, but the boy studiously avoided him and took a place between Longbottom and the muggleborn Granger.

"Today's potion is a basic antidote for Doxy-bites. The ingredients and instructions are written on the board, there will be no need for talking." Snape said as he used his wand to reveal the information and then strode back to his seat. There was still a lingering aroma of dungbomb around him and he was certain that he heard someone laughing.

There was more muttering that usual among his class. Snape looked at them for a moment before raising one eyebrow, "I said that there will be no need for talking. Why then am I hearing you dunderheads jabbering away? Potter! What is so funny that you and Longbottom won't shut up?"

"We weren't saying anything, sir." It was Neville who spoke. The trio had swiftly learned that if James spoke then Snape would do his best to find a reason to take points. If Hermione spoke, it was equally likely that he'd take points or insult her as a know-it-all. Neville was usually the safer of the three, at least until it was time to brew. Then it took a combined effort from Hermione and James to prevent Neville from quivering under Snape's eye.

Whatever Snape was going to say was halted when the door to the classroom opened and a woman James had never seen before entered. She was extremely thin, with huge, glittering glasses that gave her an appearance that reminded James of a huge insect. "Severus darling!" She rushed forward and embraced the sputtering man, "When I got your letter this morning, I had no idea how you felt!"

The class was deathly silent. Not one student so much as breathed deeply lest they missed one moment. Snape pulled from her hitting the table Ron and Seamus Finnegan sat at and toppling their cauldron sending a foul-smelling ooze onto the floor of the dungeon. "My letter? I haven't sent anything of the sort!" He whipped around at the students, "Class dismissed! Get out of my sight, all of you!" James and the others left the dungeons quickly leaving Snape to the amorous attentions of the strange woman.

At lunch he got his answer. Tonks plopped down on the bench beside him with a wide grin, made all the wider by the fact that she'd made her mouth slightly larger. "Wotcher munchkins, how was Snape's class this morning?" She asked as she piled a plate high with chips. "Anything unusual happen?"

"Some weird woman came in about five minutes into the class and hugged him." James said as he drew a corned beef sandwich from a tray and took a bite. Chewing thoughtfully, he looked at her, "What did you do?" He asked after he swallowed. Tonks took on an exaggerated innocent expression and James rolled his eyes, "Tonks." He said, "Come on."

"Oh alright," She sighed and then grinned deviously, "This morning I asked a spectral friend of mine to arrange a little distraction to keep Greasy out of the Great Hall so I could borrow his face long enough to be seen taking a letter to the North Tower and to our ever-so-illustrious Professor Sybil Trelawney of the Divination Department." She laughed softly, "The batty old bint ate up his 'love letter'. When she came down I was in my default form, so I told her I saw Snape. I made sure some Ravenclaw third-years saw me as Snape, so when I told her Snape was the one who had the letter, they 'figured it out'," Tonks paused to make sarcastic quotes around the words, "so, after they gushed about it, Trelawney ate that up, by the way, she rushed off and bammo!" She smacked the table with her hand, "You lot got out of the worst class of the day."

"Wait, 'borrowed his face'? 'default form'?" Hermione frowned in confusion, "What do you mean?"

"The stretched mouth when I sat down didn't do it for you huh?" Tonks laughed and then turned her hair into the same bushy brown, "I'm a Metamorphmagus, I can change my form however I want." She turned her hair back to the pink it had been, "No offense, but I'm not really a brunette kind of girl."

"Still, that was very reckless of you. What if you'd been caught?" Hermione admonished once her question had been answered.

"You never got invited to things did you Lady Buzzkill?" Tonks said dryly, "Calm down Granger, I've been pranking this school since I got here." She stage-whispered the next part, "I'm kind of good at this."

Snape didn't reappear until dinnertime. James saw a muscle twitching under his eye even from his seat at the Gryffindor table. Sitting beside him, as if determined to sit in his lap, was Professor Trelawney. She beamed at him, blissfully ignoring all the anger radiating off the pale man. "Well, he looks cheerful," Tonks said as she sat down beside him, stealing a chicken leg from James' plate.

"There's an entire plate of chicken legs right there." James pointed out dryly, taking another leg off the platter and placing it on his plate.

"They taste better off your plate." She said shrugging, "Tulip said that the NEWT divination class featured fortune-telling lessons that went very distinctly into the 'Sybil Trelawney-Snape and her six children' school." She laughed and grabbed James' goblet of pumpkin juice and drained it. "After dinner, James and I need to head up to the Owlery. I've got a letter to send and I'm sure his owl would like to stretch her wings."

"Where is that letter going?" Hermione asked. She didn't approve of pranks on teachers, even unpleasant ones.

"To the office of Misters 'none of your business' and 'not your concern'." Tonks said as she picked up a knife and speared a sausage with its blade. "I promised James' parents if you must know, that I would write sometimes. This is my last year at Hogwarts after all. Then I get to spend three ever-so-fun years at Auror Academy."

"You already know you're getting in?" James said, "Don't you need your NEWTs first?"

"Hush up short stuff, I'm getting in and you know it. Or do we need to make another bet?" She waggled her eyebrows teasingly.

James blushed, "Shut up! I wasn't even the one who made the bet with you!"

Tonks cackled and stole another chicken leg.

Neville sighed and looked at Hermione, "I wonder what it's like having normal friends. I bet it's nice." Hermione caught her giggle just in time.

"Hey I am normal!" James replied, flicking a roll at the other boy.

"What are you doing here? This is the Gryffindor table, leave immediately!" Percy Weasley strode over glaring at Tonks. He hadn't forgotten her insults on the train it seemed Ron had been as good as his word to tattle.

"Hmm…" Said Tonks, drawing the sound out, "Nah. I'm good where I am. I have a better idea; why don't you toddle off like a good little boy. Or we could always settle this in the courtyard." Tonks finished lazily going back to her meal.

"I am a Prefect!" Percy spat out pointing at his badge, "You will treat me with respect!"

"And one of my best friends is Head Girl." She said shrugging, "What? We weren't each spouting useless information?" Tonks said pretending to be puzzled and thoroughly enjoying the younger teens' anger.

For a moment, neither said anything. Percy panted in anger while Tonks merely chose another chicken leg and began to eat. Finally, Percy sputtered angrily, "I will speak to Professor Sprout about this!" then he strode off as Tonks waved a cheerful goodbye.

"What will happen if he talks to Professor Sprout?" James asked her, "If it'll get you in trouble then I'd rather you go to the Hufflepuff table."

"I wouldn't. It's dead boring over there." Tonks replied as she reached for a treacle tart. "Besides, unless it's a Sorting or a Leaving Feast we are encouraged to sit with our friends and promote 'inter-house relations'."

After dinner Tonks and James walked up to the Owlery together. Tonks waited while Harry stroked Hedwig's feathers and then tied her note to the leg of the bird. "C'mon Jamie, I'll take you back to the Gryffindor tower." She told him once Hedwig flew off, becoming a white blob in the dark sky.

As they walked James looked at her for a moment before speaking, "Can you please go a little easier on Hermione? She doesn't really have a social filter, so she kind of speaks without thinking sometimes, but she is one of my friends."

"She rubs me the wrong way." Tonks said after a moment, "She's bossy."

"So are you." James replied earning a cuff on the side of the head.

"Shut up. I'm bossy because I do know better than you. She's bossy because she thinks she knows better." Tonks told him as they reached the stairway for the tower, "Big difference I- shite!" She stopped him. At the landing, for the third floor, she spotted Mrs. Norris, the cat owned by the caretaker Argus Filch. "Play along." She said and quickly morphed into the form of Minerva McGonagall, she tapped her wand to her robes, and they switched from black to green.

When Filch arrived his bulging eyes shown with a triumph that swiftly turned into disappointment. To him, it was just a Professor McGonagall escorting a student back to the tower. "Come along Potter, hopefully, that detention will teach you not to kiss older students. Miss Tonks is a top student, she doesn't need you distracting her." Tonks-as-McGonagall said in a stern voice as they passed the caretaker and hurried upstairs.

"I hate you so much." James whispered as they reached the Fat Lady a few moments later.

"Yeah, yeah." Tonks said shifting back and ruffling his hair, "Get some sleep kiddo." She watched him enter the common room and then started on her way back down to her own. _Messing with Jamie is fun,_ she thought, _I'll have to keep it up until I graduate. After that too come to think of it. Hell, I'll just pencil him in as my permanent target._ She laughed as she walked away and had James known about her thoughts, he would have had an explanation for the cold shiver that raced down his spine.


	15. Chapter 15

The Peverell Legacy

A/N: I own nothing, especially not HP. Welcome to another fanfic, Italics are for thoughts, Bold is for spells.

Epilogue Part Four: One Quiet Year

 _Dear Tonks,_

 _This year is much better so far. Whatever you told the Weasley's seemed to have worked. Or maybe it was something the twins said to Ron because he hasn't tried to convince me to go by Harry Potter so far._

 _Thanks for the suggestions for next year's electives. I went with Care of Magical Creatures, Ancient Runes, and Arithmancy. Neville and Draco are taking Divination instead of Runes and somehow Hermione wants to take them all-_

Tonks laughed as she stretched on her cot at the Auror Academy and continued to read. _Of course, that girl wants to take them all…_ She thought and shook her head. At James's request, she'd stopped teasing the girl as much, but it didn't change the fact that Hermione Granger was more full of herself than she should have been.

 _Quirrell got sacked as you probably heard. Turned out he'd spent his time off looking for signs of Voldemort and they found illegal dark objects in his quarters. Nearly Headless Nick told us he tried to curse the Aurors that arrested him over the summer. Too bad our new Professor is just as useless. Gilderoy Lockhart has to be the biggest idiot I've ever met and that includes that guy you were dating over the summer-_

Tonks fought the urge to laugh again. Her roommate, Ismelda, had already thrown one of her books at Tonks for waking her once, she wasn't in the mood to dodge another one. She'd known that James had disliked her last boyfriend, but it still made her smile when he got all jealous.

 _Mum and Dad send their love, they want you to come visit when you get some off time. I'm coming home for Christmas break, want to come over and help keep Bodhi from sneaking back onto the train?_

 _James_

She smiled and folded the letter closed. As she drifted off, she started thinking about appropriate Christmas gifts for the Peverell family.

Scene Break

Harry and Padma stood at the station when James and the others arrived. Padma held her grin in check as she saw Neville getting off the train in conversation with Parvati. What surprised her was her counterparts' jealous look. She hadn't had a crush on Neville during her first time around. But this time the twelve-year-old Padma had a thing for him as well. _Maybe she's jealous because Neville has some self-esteem now that Snape is laying off._ She thought with a grin. Padma had found Tonks' approach to Snape hilarious, now he had Trelawney mooning over him which left him no time to harass the students.

Draco walked behind James and Hermione who were in deep conversation. Padma nudged Harry as she noticed Draco staring at Hermione. Harry's eyebrow raised at the sight. He leaned in and whispered to her, "Looks like his dislike is going away…" He laughed slightly and then leaned back up.

Beside them Narcissa watched her son walking behind his friends with a smile. She had been approached by the wives of Lucius' old cronies Crabbe and Goyle about their sons and the possibility of Draco being 'friends' with the new generation. That, she was pleased to notice, had not happened. From his letters, Draco had been approached as well but had refused them. She preferred his current friends, they were more intelligent and, she thought with a mercenary detachment, these were friends that would him shake off the stigma of his father's past.

"James!" Bodhi cried, rushing to her brother and hugging him tightly. Bodhi Peverell hated the school year when her brother was gone. He was her first and best friend and she did make other friends easily. She was nearly the perfect mirror of her mother, but she had the same vivid green eyes as her father and brother. Tall for her age the ten-year-old Bodhi was nearly the same height as James, "I missed you!"

"Missed you too," James murmured against her hair as he hugged her back.

"My turn short stuff." Tonks said hugging James once Bodhi stepped back. "So, breaking the girls' hearts or are you playing the long game with them?" Tonks grinned and looked over at Hermione who was glaring at her. "Or does Granger keep them away for you?"

Hermione huffed and looked more closely at James, "I'm going to meet my parents, they are waiting on the muggle side." She hugged him and walked to the barrier and vanished in a small group containing Dean Thomas and Katie Bell.

"Do you have to do that?" James asked Tonks as he watched her leave. "She's gotten a lot better about-"

"About being a know-it-all?"

"She's my friend Tonks." James said crossly.

Tonks winked, "and such a good friend you are. Very loyal, I told you that you'd have made a good Puff."

With that, they Peverell family, along with Tonks, departed for the parking lot on the muggle side of Kings Cross. Harry and Padma had bought a dependable family car shortly after Bodhi was born, a silver 1983 Citroën CX Prestige. As Padma had put it _'I'm not about to side along a fussy baby and wind up smelling like sour milk and spit up!'_ she'd went with Harry and glared at the salesman until they were the proud owners of their 'third baby'.

The trip along the A21 was normally just a relatively boring two-hour drive back to Rye. However today, James was trapped with a window on one side and Tonks on the other, talking animatedly to Bodhi about her most current date, "-so I said to him, no way is Portree going to win the championship this year, Kenmare is too good. He got all huffy and said that Kenmare's chaser line was sh- was bad." She hastily amended wincing as Padma shot a very sharp glare at her through the rear-view mirror. "Anyway, that one won't be getting within snogging distance again." Her voice lowered until only Bodhi and James could hear her, "Not if he wanted to keep his twig and berries where they are now."

Something in James' stomach twisted at the thought of Tonks kissing someone. It had never happened before, and he didn't want to think about the reason behind it. Instead, he thought about Quidditch. Quidditch usually helped him when he was thinking too hard about things. He and his father had been practicing each year, this year he had tried out for the Gryffindor Quidditch team and had been chosen as Seeker. " _The Thimblerig Shuffle is a move used by Chasers to distract opposing players into thinking the ball is in the hands of a different player than the one who is holding it…"_ James thought as he did his best to ignore their conversation. He wasn't a Chaser, but the book Hermione had gotten him for his birthday last year had famous moves used by each position. The Seeker's most famous moves were still forbidden for him to learn under penalty of 'wish you were dead', his mother had told him.

Before too long they were pulling off of Watchbell street and onto the gravel driveway of the Peverell home. Tonks slid out behind him ruffling his hair as she started towards her parents' home, "Don't forget, Mum and Dad want you lot at our house tonight for dinner!" She called out, waving back as she left them. James heard a thud and muffled curse and knew that Tonks, as ever, had hit the toe of her boots on the iron lawn jockey that acted as the dividing line between the Peverell and Tonks homes.

"You like her."

Bodhi stepped beside her brother with a grin on her face. Teasing her brother was the thing she most missed when he was at Hogwarts. Bodhi's smirk didn't fade a bit as James glared at her, a reddish tinge touching his cheeks, "You like her, don't you?" The grin in her voice grew stronger as James did his best to ignore her, "You like To-"

James put his hand over her mouth, "Shut it pipsqueak!" He hissed at his sister, a sister he noted that hadn't stopped grinning, "I don't like Tonks like that!" He moved his hand from her mouth, "For one, she's eighteen and I'm twelve. For another-"

"Yes?" She said stretching the word teasingly.

"- just, just shut up!" James huffed and stormed into the house. Bodhi laughed and walked in behind him.

Scene Break

Dinner at the Tonks house was a noisy affair that evening. Harry and his family arrived finding Narcissa and Draco already there. Sirius, Remus, and the Lovegood's arrived after them, filling the guest list as well as the dining room.

James did his best to not look at Tonks, Bodhi's taunt still rang in his ears _You like Tonks!_ James stabbed into his turkey with more energy than it required, _So, what if I did like her? It's not like I'm going to spend the next four years moping after her!_ He chewed his food, adding 'not looking at Bodhi', who he was sure was still smirking, to the list of people not to look at.

Tonks found herself laughing at a story Remus was telling, it wasn't the funniest story, but something about the man-made her find him fascinating. Maybe it was the scars, she had always found scars attractive. _Makes sense, my first crush was on my 'uncle' Harry._ Her crush on Harry Peverell had been part of the reason she'd always went for men older than her. The latest, David Jackson, a man she'd met on a visit to St. Mungo's to see her mother, had been a full six years older than herself. _Is that why I keep ending up with dumbasses?_ As her mother had ever-so-helpfully-pointed out she'd never had a relationship last longer than a few months. _That can't be it,_ she thought as she poured gravy onto her turkey.

"So, how is the Academy going, Dora?" Ted asked noticing the look on his daughter's face. He was sure that her current thoughtful look had nothing to do with her studies but knew that if he gave her an outlet it would spell less annoyed cursing at night and, he hoped, less of his precious chocolate cereal stolen before she left again.

Tonks looked up from her plate, "It's been boring so far. Mostly just Hogwarts again, next year will be the fun one. That's when I get my mentor." She took a bite and chewed slowly, "I hope it's Moody, he's the best in the game."

"He's the craziest too." Sirius said with a laugh, "When we were in the Order together, he cursed Moony here for sneezing."

"I got better." Remus said dryly.

"You had tentacles growing from your face for a week." Sirius with a wink aimed at Padma. He knew she still didn't like Remus. Him either most likely, but she had been willing to be more open to Sirius spending time with his godson- _er godsons…_ he mentally added, thanks to Harry.

"Moving on from your love of bringing up my pain and suffering." Remus said before looking at James and then Draco, "How is your second year going?"

"Most of my classes are fine. Defense is a joke again though." James said, "Gilderoy Lockhart is the biggest liar I've ever met."

"I think it's wonderful they let him teach," said Luna from beside her mother, "I just wish they'd let him teach us how he manages to be in two places at once."

"He isn't. He's just lying." Draco said to Luna, "He said he was in two different places on the same day thousands of miles apart. Even magic isn't that good."

"It could be," Luna said simply, "That's why it's magic."

"He was the only one who wanted the job." Narcissa added her two knuts, "Apparently Hogwarts had the devil's own time filling the position this year."

"You should apply Moony," Sirius said, "You had the grades for it."

"I- I don't think that would be for the best." Remus replied staring hard at Sirius, "I rather doubt the students want to learn from- from someone like me."

A tension overtook the table. One that normally was reserved for Christmas dinners that featured political discussion. It took Ted clearing his throat for there to be any noise at all at the table apart from scraping utensils. "I think," Ted said looking to Andromeda, "that it might be time for the pudding?"

Pudding, Luna would tell anyone, fixed everything. Andromeda rose and used her wand to levitate a large plum pudding into the dining room. A flick from her wand and the pudding split itself into equal pieces for everyone. She began to pass slices down the table so that each person got one and once served the party began again.

Much later, in his bed, James looked at the small package Tonks had slipped into his hand as they left that evening. She'd winked at him and whispered 'open it tonight' before letting him leave. Now, with everyone asleep he did so.

Inside was a small silver mirror and a note in her handwriting that read, 'say my name'. James frowned in confusion and then shrugged, "Tonks?" James said in a whisper. The mirror darkened for a moment and then cleared again, but this time it wasn't his reflection, it was Tonks'. "Tonks?" James said, "How did-"

"It's a communication mirror. Sirius had a set when he was your age. I 'borrowed' them last time I went over. I figured this would be quicker than waiting on your owl each time." Tonks smiled at him and continued, "Now when you want to chat with me you can say my name and the mirror will vibrate. If I have something to show you, I'll say your name and the mirror will do the same. I'll try to keep it after classes though."

"Thanks, Tonks." James said with a smile, "This is great."

The pair continued to talk until James began to doze off. When he blinked the mirror was still again and a glance at the window showed that it was very nearly dawn. He placed the mirror in his drawer and then closed his eyes. The strange feeling in his stomach had been replaced by a different feeling and, while still unwilling to think too hard about it, he knew this one was much more comfortable.


	16. Chapter 16

The Peverell Legacy

A/N: I own nothing, especially not HP. Welcome to another fanfic, Italics are for thoughts, Bold is for spells.

Epilogue Part Five: In Which Bodhi Peverell attends Hogwarts and woe betide her enemies

A/N: Who likes Authors Notes? Everyone? Awesome. So, let me explain the length of my absence. It came be summed up in one sentence: I very nearly had to be hospitalized due to a large infection in the arm that's missing its hand... That meant I had to postpone a lot of things I was working on. Just in time for a pandemic to come along. So I'm back. I've got a little bit more for this story and then it's finished. After this, I have another story I did some preliminary work on. YLIATMIN is on a hiatus at the moment until I get a proper muse for the story. Stag and Flower is nearly complete and will be uploaded once I've finished the encounter I'm working on.

 _Dear Tonks,_

 _Bodhi was sorted into Slytherin today. I bet Hermione and Neville a sickle that she threatened to set the hat on fire if she wasn't sorted with Draco (I think she has a thing for him). She sat in the boat with a girl named Romilda who apparently is another 'Harry Potter fangirl'._

 _Yay for me, right?_

 _Anyway, Bodhi did threaten to drown her in the lake if she didn't shut up. This earned her the spot of 'first person in a century to lose House points before they were even sorted' according to Fred and George Weasley. Oh, I can't believe Sirius managed to keep it quiet, but Remus is our Defense Professor this year. Ron thought it was funny that Remus' robes were shabbier than his, which just further cements my dislike of him. I'm just glad he's stopped trying to be my 'best mate'._

 _I didn't break the mirror, by the way, I just figure that writing my letter to you at Hogwarts is kind of our thing._

 _If you can make it, come see us at Hogsmeade. The first weekend is the first of October._

 _James_

Tonks folded the letter and put it on her desk. She'd finally finished with the Academy and was now a rookie Auror. She shared a small flat with Ismelda in East London, chosen specifically because no one paid attention to the weird girls. She smiled as she leaned back in her chair thinking about James.

Then she sighed and stared up at the ceiling. Why was it that her longest relationship was writing letters to James? _Ismelda is practically a demon in human form if you made her angry and she has a boyfriend._ She thought annoyedly as she looked through her open door to Ismelda's room where the rattling snores of her roommate made Tonks wish she was better at silencing charms.

 _Do I want to go to Hogsmeade?_ She thought as she rose from her chair and walked into the living area/kitchenette and opened the fridge. Peering in she selected a takeaway container from her favorite curry house. Pouring the lamb curry into a bowl she drew her wand and tapped it against the bowl, instantly the thick stew began to bubble and steam.

She grabbed a spoon and took a bite of her curry. Mad-Eye Moody, the Auror she was shadowing, was unpredictable. If she let on that she wanted to see James, then Moody would no doubt assign her something painful and humiliating. _Aurors that look forward to their time off are distracted Aurors, and distracted Aurors are dead Aurors…_ Tonks could hear him growling at her as if the old man was standing in front of her.

She made her way back to her desk and plopped into her chair digging into the curry. Normally an excuse to see James was a welcome distraction. But it made her think about something her mother had brought up at her visit. Andromeda had mentioned in that 'casual yet judging you' way of hers that she spent more time talking about conversations she'd had with James than she spent talking about actual boyfriends she'd had. Her mother hadn't been pleased about it and had accused her of holding every man she met to impossibly high standards.

 _So, what if I've had a bad run with men lately?_ Tonks thought grumbling as she chewed on a piece of potato. _It's like I have a crush on James, he's thirteen for crying out loud!_

As she continued to eat, she continued to debate with herself if she was going to go. Finally, she settled on going but making sure that if James seemed too enthusiastic that she would let him down gently. She looked over at the small perch on her dresser where Hedwig slept, her head under wing. She waited until she finished the curry before going to her desk, digging out some paper and writing a quick response.

 _Wotcher Jamie,_

 _Thanks for the invite to Hogsmeade. I'll check my schedule when I go in tomorrow, if I'm off then I'll send another message confirming it. For now, let's say I am off and that we should meet at the pub around noon-ish._

 _Tonks_

 _P.S. If you get there before I do tell Rosie I'm coming and to mix up my usual, she'll know._

Tonks looked at her reply and nodded in satisfaction. It was the kind of thing she would expect any friend to write. Not too formal, but since she didn't write 'Love from' and there was nary a single 'X' or 'O' to be found she didn't feel it was too informal. _Merlin knows if I sent a letter with 'Love From' at the end of it Mum would be back on that same troll-shit if she found out…_ Tonks thought rolling her eyes

Andromeda Tonks had been very concerned that Tonks was spending too much time on her friendship with James and not trying to meet people, especially men, her age. She had brought up an annoyingly valid point; Tonks spent more time with her mirror talking to Harry over the summer than she had with the young man she had been dating. _Like it's my fault David turned out to be just like all the others and more interested in how big I can grow my quaffles!_ Tonks thought angrily as she reached into the drawer of her desk and pulled out a chocolate frog. Unwrapping it, she bit the head off of the frog and chewed before swallowing and finishing the frog. The problem wasn't her friendship with James, it was the fact that all the men she met seemed more interested in her abilities over her personality.

James Peverell was one of the very few who never asked anything of her. He didn't try to win her over by saying he 'wanted to see the real her', it just wasn't fair that he was thirteen. _If he was my age…no stop that thought now._ She frowned and shook her head, trying to banish the fact that if James was her age, she would want very much to get him off the market to the deepest part of her psyche.

It was a very fitful sleep that claimed her that night.

The weekend of the visit found Tonks at the Three Broomsticks waiting for James sipping a butterbeer. She had avoided her usual choice of Ogden's Choice firewhiskey since it was early in the day and she was most likely going to be breaking the heart of James. _It's not like I asked him to fall in love with me…_ She thought as she looked out from her seat onto the streets of Hogsmeade. _I guess I could have set more boundaries. I-_

She was drawn from her thoughts by a very familiar form. James was making his way down the path from the castle accompanied by Hermione and Neville, who were walking very closely, and another girl that looked vaguely familiar. However, from this distance, she couldn't tell much besides the fact that the girl was wearing Ravenclaw robes. Tonks frowned without noticing when she saw that the girl was holding James' hand.

Tonks wasn't sure what exactly it was about the girl, but something told her that she didn't like her. _Probably some little bint who thinks he's going to start being 'Harry Potter' for her._ Tonks scoffed lightly at the idea, her hair moving from pink to a sickly green and then back. She stood and dropped a sickle on the counter for a tip and walked outside.

"Wotcher Jamie!" She called out waving her hand to get his attention. "Who's your friend?"

"This is Padma Patil, she's in my Ancient Runes class." James said with a smile, "Padma, this is Tonks, my best friend."

"I thought your best friends were Hermione and Neville." Padma said to him, "Or Draco for that matter."

"They are too. I just have four best friends. Tonks is my oldest friend."

"I can tell," Padma said with a grin.

At that moment, the undefined dislike for the younger girl had a name. _Padma? The same name as his mother…oh, Auntie Pad is going to laugh her ass off at that._ Tonks brought her attention back to the couple. "So, what is the plan then lovebirds?"

"Well, I wanted to see how you were doing. Your last letter before I sent mine said that Moody was riding you pretty hard."

Tonks laughed at that, some of the tension in her shoulders vanished, the tension she hadn't known was there. "Knowing him, he's probably here in the village using his cloak to spy on us." She then casually cast a revealing charm and then nodded in apparent satisfaction, "Okay, so he's not here, but I don't trust him."

"My dad doesn't like him. He used to come and inspect our shop for illegal potions since we served muggles." Padma said frowning slightly.

Tonks nodded, "Yeah that sounds about right. It's illegal to use potions on muggles, so any witch or wizard who owns a shop is subject to inspections. Keeps disreputable shops from selling love potions and stuff like that."

"Are you calling my dad 'disreputable'?" Padma glared at the woman now. James noticed the tension between them and put his hand on Padma's shoulder. She pulled away from him angrily and stormed off.

"I've got to talk to her," James said quickly, hurrying off and leaving Tonks standing at the bar.

Tonks couldn't believe it. _One stupid comment and she ran off like I called her dad a Death Eater._ She scratched her head trying to process what had happened as she saw James through the window of the pub running towards the turn that led to the school.

Scene Break

"So, she ran off?" Harry asked Tonks who had came from Hogsmeade looking much less happy than when she'd stopped in earlier in the day to say hello.

"Yeah," Tonks said sitting down at the kitchen table and grabbing an apple from the fruit bowl. "I mentioned how the Ministry checks wizard-ran shops that serve muggles and she got all touchy." She mulled it over once it became clear that they weren't coming back to the pub.

Harry laughed softly, "If that Padma is like my Padma, and I have a pretty fair assumption she is, you inadvertently insulted her father. The best thing to do would be to send her an apology." He took an apple from the bowl himself and then placed it on the table. He tapped it and the skin from the apple began to slide off into a neat pile.

"Show off," Tonks muttered as she took a bite from her unpeeled apple. She chewed morosely before swallowing her bite. "Jamie is probably pissed at me right now. I hope he doesn't take it out on Remus."

The peel on Harry's apple had nearly finished sliding off when she said that. At the name Remus, his eyebrow raised, "Why would he take it out on Remus?"

"We're going to have dinner together this weekend. I-" She took another bite, "I'm pretty sure that Jamie saw me talking to him."

The apple jumped from the table at that and hit the ceiling with a wet thwack. Harry groaned softly and summoned the apple before using a spell to clean it. "So, you and Remus are going on a date?"

"Mum's right. If you tell her, I'll sic Auntie Pad on you," Tonks said watching him, unsure as to why that news would cause him to startle so badly that he messed up a spell she'd seen him do countless times. "Outside of the friends I made at Hogwarts I spend more time talking to Jamie than I do anyone else. Honestly, I spend more time talking to him than I do half of the friends I'd made at school. I need to make more adult friends and Remus is already a friend, so I figured why not?"

Harry shook his head. He and Padma had made a promise to each other that they wouldn't mess with the futures of their friends by telling them about the future they'd come from. It wasn't right, Harry had argued to interfere beyond what they'd had to do in order to stop Voldemort. Padma had called him a rude name for that. Her opinion was that if they could prevent something bad, then they should do it. But he'd held firm and eventually she'd agreed and made the promise not to interfere.

 _She's going to just love this…_ Harry thought darkly as he took a bite into his apple and found that he'd missed a spot in cleaning it and got an owl feather in his mouth.


	17. Chapter 17

The Peverell Legacy

A/N: I own nothing, especially not HP. Welcome to another fanfic, Italics are for thoughts, Bold is for spells. This is it, the penultimate chapter. The last part of the epilogue is the scene that actually led me to write this entire story. I just didn't want to shoot through to the end without explaining why these things happened. I'm glad you stuck through to the end and I can't wait for you to check out my upcoming stories.

Epilogue Part Six: A Family Vacation.

Summer had arrived and with it came James and Bodhi, fresh from their third and first years at Hogwarts respectively. James had been in the top ten of his year, which had earned him a special reward in the form of a trip to France where the Bulgarians would be playing Denmark in the lead up to the Quidditch World Cup.

Padma laughed watching Harry and James struggle with tying their newly purchased wizarding tent to the roof of their car. "You know, we could have just shrunk the thing." She said almost lazily as she took a sip of the lemonade she and Bodhi had made for the trip.

"When we get to the ferry, we can't risk a shrinking enchantment failing." Harry reminded her, "It's better we look like a muggle family on a camping holiday than have to deal some official from the Ministry bothering us." He turned back to the knot James had made and smiled, "Though…we could always 'help' the tent stay down." He drew his wand and tapped it to the tent in several places. With the sticking charm in place, he stepped back. "Peverell family, we are ready to head out!"

Well, they were nearly ready. First Bodhi had to go inside for the book she wanted to read, 'Sneaky Spells for Tricky Types', a collection of charms meant to assist in guarding against surveillance and most forms of divining. It was advanced magic but telling her that she was too young was a surefire way to get her to try anyway so Harry and Padma allowed her to study under supervision.

Then James had to rush inside and give Hedwig an extra treat since she wasn't coming with them. Then he volunteered to take the spare key over to the Tonks house. Bodhi asked, rather loudly, if he was trying to say goodbye to Tonks before they left which earned her a glare from both her brother and mother.

And so, roughly an hour after Harry's proclamation that they were ready to leave, they left. Padma opened the glove compartment and ensured the tickets were there. Nodding in a satisfied way she turned slightly to face the window and watched as the familiar neighborhood turned into the open road.

She hadn't planned for any part of the life she led now. She knew she loved Harry and that they would have been married in their own time. After all, she'd been in her wedding dress when she'd come here. And she'd been pregnant with Bodhi at the same time, so she knew that they would have at least one child. But that was the easy stuff, being married and having a daughter. It had been traveling through time, stopping Voldemort before he had a chance to rise again and, she thought with a little grin, ensuring that one Albus Dumbledore never got the chance to manipulate the people she cared about ever again.

In the backseat James and Bodhi were bickering in hushed voices. "I'm dating Padma." James whispered angrily, "I don't 'have a thing' for Tonks." He glared at his sister who rolled her eyes deliberately and turned the page of her book disdainfully.

"Of course not." She said in an insubordinate drawl, "You just write to her more than you do our actual family." Bodhi set her book on her lap, "You know…" She let her words linger, "Mum said she was going on a date while we were out of town. Tonks asked her for some advice about it."

"You're telling me this why exactly?"

"Because," Bodhi said with a triumphant grin, "She's going out with Remus." She watched his face for a sign of anger or annoyance. In reality, teasing her brother like this wasn't about making him upset, it was proving a point. That point being that he was, in fact, head over heels for Tonks. Her plan was for him to admit it, get over it, and then move on. Any amusement she'd get if he dug in his heels was purely incidental of course.

"So, she's dating Professor Lupin." James shrugged uncomfortably, as if a doxy had landed on his shoulder and was screeching in his ear. "How's that any of our business?"

"He's a bit old for her, wouldn't you say?" Bodhi replied in a manner of fact tone. "Thirteen years older in fact."

"Yeah? I'm seven years younger than her. At least their age difference means they are both adults."

"It's alright James. You can be upset that your crush isn't interested in a teenager." Bodhi's tone was conciliatory.

He glared at her, "She's not my crush." James hissed before turning and staring out at the M-20. It wasn't a long drive to Dover, and he was glad of it. When they boarded the ferry, he would get out of the car and away from his sister.

 _She's not my crush._ James repeated furiously in his mind. He glared at the scenery. Romney Marsh wasn't especially pretty in the best of times, but it was better than dealing with his smug brat of a sister. Her words were still rattling around inside his head like angry bees. _She's not my crush!_

 _So, why are you so angry that she_ _ **might**_ _be?_ A traitorous little voice hissed in his mind. _It's not like having a crush on a beautiful woman that you know to also be a good friend is the worst thing that you could do._

 _Shut up me._ James rubbed his temples angrily.

"Just entered Folkestone," Harry said from his seat, completely ignorant of his son's hormonal crisis. "I think your friend Su Li is from here isn't she James?"

"Hythe." James and Padma said together. Su Li was in Ravenclaw and besides Parvati, was Padma's best friend. Which meant that she had become a member of his circle of friends. The adult Padma's eyes widened at her slip, "I remember asking her when we picked you up. You were saying goodbye to Hermione." Padma recovered as smoothly as she could.

"Hythe, right. I knew it was near here at least." Harry said shrugging a little bit. In truth, Su Li had never taken to Harry as much as Padma had wanted her to. Partly because of his friendship with Hermione who had constantly outscored her, as well as the rest of their year, and partly because she'd grown up an only child and upon making her friend hadn't enjoyed anyone taking time away from her.

"She's more Padma's friend than mine." James said looking at his father's eyes in the rearview mirror, "I don't think she likes me much."

Padma smiled and turned so that she was looking at Harry. "Maybe she's not used to sharing." She said, looking at James through the mirror. She remembered her friends attempt at not only admitting that she preferred witches, but also that she was attracted to Padma. Harry had, upon hearing the story later, referred to it as a 'tackle-kiss'. In the future they'd left, she was now known as Mrs. Moon, having married Lily Moon a few years after graduating. The two had saved up their money and bought a small vineyard in France near the German border and, as far as she could tell, lived happily enough.

"Your mother had a friend like that," Harry said, placing a hand on Padma's. "Couldn't stand me. She thought I was a prat. Mostly because I was when we were in school."

"You got better once you learned to be more afraid of me than of your other friends teasing you," Padma said laughing. Harry leaned over and kissed her on the cheek.

Harry pulled into the queue for the ferry. He dug into his pocket for his muggle wallet and drew out a few notes. Padma looked at the sign, "The fee is forty-two," she read from the sign while Harry drew out the notes he would need.

"Thanks love," Harry said as he handed the correct amount to the attendant and drove forward. Their car was pointed to one of the ferries along the dock. "Once we get the all-clear, we can get out and stretch our legs." He said, looking into the back at James and Bodhi, "Until I turn off the engine, do not get out of this car, alright?"

"Yes dad," they said in unison.

A few moments later they were allowed to get out of their car and walk to the cabin where three long rows of seats greeted them. Seeing that most of the spots were taken however, the four Peverells decided to climb the stairs leading to the upper deck of the cabin where they could watch the ocean.

The ferry trip was uneventful. Before long they were in Calais and traveling, following the map they'd be given to a small clearing where a few other cars were parked. "I have to say, the French Ministry does a better job of this than the British Ministry. They made arrangements for families like us that travel more comfortably in muggle style." Harry said as he pulled into the lot, the cars tires crunching on the gravel.

As soon as they'd parked a man in a nondescript blue outfit approached the car, "Désolé, avez-vous une réservation ici?" He asked as Harry rolled down the window.

"Oui, nous avons des billets pour la match. Nous avons réservé un parking et un camping pour deux adultes et deux enfants." Padma spoke as she handed the man their tickets.

He looked at the tickets and then smiled, "Thank you very much," he said, switching to English. "You're in the P's, so let me check for you." He put the tickets under his arm and drew a small clipboard out of his coat, "P through S are at Bisset's campsite." He handed them back their tickets along with a small paper map. "Just follow the path to the east and you'll find Bisset at his office."

Harry thanked the man. They departed from their car with their luggage and the tent and made for the campsite they were directed to. Mr. Bisset was a short and ruddy-faced man with a bald pate that shone brightly in the afternoon sun. Padma spoke to him in French and, after paying for their spot, were directed to a small patch of grass surrounded by many other tents. "Again," Harry said as he began to put up the tent using wandless magic to send the spikes into the ground, "I have to say the French style is far superior to the slapdash approach our ministry used."

"You mean having contractors that work with the government instead of overwhelming some hapless Cornish family with a few hundred idiots?" Padma said dryly as she watched James and Bodhi make their way to the midway. "This is also much smaller than the Cup."

"I wonder if Krum is already on the reserve team or if he's going to be watching somewhere in the stands…" Harry said as he finished setting up the tent. It was a squat four-person tent on the outside. Inside, however, it was a comfortable two-bedroom apartment done in cream and gold. An enchanted window on one of the walls showed a beautiful tropical island. Harry and Padma walked inside of the tent with their luggage and sat down on a couch. "You know, the kids will probably be gone for a while…" He said with a sly grin.

Padma rolled her eyes and allowed him to put his arm around her. "Dora came to see me the other day. She's going on a date. With Remus Lupin." Her eyes narrowed in distaste.

"You know if you tell her not to, she'll do it even harder." Harry pointed out earning a frown from his wife.

"I do know that." Padma snapped at him. "We haven't told her where we came from, so it's not like I could tell her why I hate the tosser." She shrugged annoyedly and continued, "I did say that he was-"

"You didn't say 'too old' did you?"

She scoffed, "I'm a bit smarter than that love." She said with a smile that promised a world of pain if he underestimated her again. "I said he was too wrapped up into his self-pity. Of course, she said that he just needs someone to give him some support. At which point I asked what she thought Sirius did by letting the man live with him when he isn't working at the school."

Harry laughed at that. Padma continued, "She said she knows he's worried about the stigma of being a werewolf. But that," and here Padma made her voice a bit higher to sound like Tonks, "' if someone would just kick him in the ass hard enough, he'd be a good bloke for a relationship'." She made a face and continued in her normal voice, "I told her that he wasn't a project. He was a man, a very stupid man who loved nothing more than hating himself."

Their conversation was interrupted when James and Bodhi came into the tent each carrying a large chocolate ice cream with nuts. "We left the midway because there's a fight," Bodhi said calmly as she ate her ice cream. "Aurors showed up and made everyone go to their tents until the match."

"It was wicked!" James said grinning, "One of the guys fighting got cursed by one of the other guys and he had horns!"

"Incomplete transfigurative curse…" Padma said, "Remember Mogadishu?"

Harry laughed. "What happened in Mogan-"Bodhi began but was interrupted when Padma spoke.

"Mogadishu. It's the capital of Somalia in Africa. All you need to know is we saw a man try to run from their version of Diagon Alley with a set of parrots wings instead of ears." Padma flicked her eyes over to Harry, who suppressed a smile. The thief had gotten those wings because Harry had cast the spell to slow him down.

The family waited until they heard a loud voice speaking in French. Padma stood, "That's the announcer, the match is in twenty minutes." With that, they all made their way out and joined the throng heading towards the deeper forest where the stadium lay.

 _These are good seats…_ Harry thought happily as they climbed slightly higher than mid-way up. Roughly in height with one of the hoops they had a good view of the field. That was when he noticed a very familiar silvery blonde haired teenager sitting a few rows above them. It was a sixteen-year-old Fleur Delacour sitting with her parents and little sister.

Padma noticed and leaned in as if she was kissing her husband's cheek as they sat down, "Small world isn't it?" She smiled and settled back in her chair. Fleur had always disliked Ginny and when Harry had begun dating Padma, she had immediately taken a liking to the witch. Gabrielle, however, had considered Padma yet another threat against her long term plan to marry Harry Potter herself.

As the Peverell family watched Bulgaria flatten Denmark three-hundred to ninety, Harry scanned the air for Viktor Krum. The program said the reserve seeker would be playing but he remembered the competitive streak Krum had displayed. If the Tri-Wizard Tournament was held this year he wondered if James would meet Fleur and Krum since he wouldn't be put in the Goblet this time. He hoped so, as he rose with his family to cheer for Bulgaria.

"Dad, can we go to the World Cup?" James asked as they walked down the steps back to their tent.

Harry just smiled, "Your mother and Bodhi aren't as fond of Quidditch as we are James. But…" His smile turned into a full-on grin, "But, Narcissa doesn't like Quidditch very much either, neither does Augusta Longbottom. She asked me if I would mind chaperoning Draco in August to an event."

"We're going to the World Cup!" James shouted throwing himself against Harry and hugging him tightly.


End file.
